At least ten dead and more than 100 injured following Magnitude 5.5 Earthquake in central Bangladesh.

The United States Geological Survey recorded a Magnitude 5.5 Earthquake at a depth of about 10 km, roughly 30 km to the northeast of the Bangladeshi capital, Dhaka, slightly after 10.35 local time (slightly after 4.35 am GMT) on Saturday 22 November 2025. At least ten people, including at least one child, have died as a result of the event, with more than 100 injured. Most of those killed or injured appear to have been struck by debris falling from buildings in densely populated urban areas; three people were reportedly killed in a single incident when they were struck by a falling balcony. The event was felt across Bangladesh, as well as neighbouring areas of India.

Debris which fell from buildings into a crowded street in Dhaka, Bangladesh, during an Earthquake on 22 November 2025. Reuters.

Earthquake activity in northern Bangladesh is influenced by the uplift of the Tibetan Plateau, due to the impact of India into Eurasia to the south. The Indian Plate is moving northwards at a rate of 5 cm per year, causing it to impact into Eurasia, which is also moving northward, but only at a rate of 2 cm per year. The collision of the Indian and Eurasian plates has led to the formation of the Himalayan Mountains, the Tibetan Plateau, and the mountains of southwest China, Central Asia and the Hindu Kush.

Block diagram showing how the impact of the Indian Plate into Eurasia is causing uplift on the Tibetan Plateau. Jayne Doucette/Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution.

Eastern Bangladesh is also in an area particularly prone to Earthquakes; much of nearby Myanmar lies on the Burma Plate, a small tectonic plate caught between  the Eurasian Plate to the northeast, the Indian Plate to the west and southwest and the Sunda Plate to the southeast. As these larger plates move together the Burma Plate is being squeezed and fractured, with a major fault line, the Kabaw Fault, having formed across much of the north of the country, along which the Burma Plate is slowly splitting. Most Earthquakes in the region are caused by movement on this fault.

The movement of the Burma and surrounding plates. Sheth et al. (2011).

The central part of Bangladesh is potentially affected by both tectonic systems, but is rather less prone to earthquake events, with only six Earthquakes of Magnitude 5.5 or greater since 1950. This may help to explain the level of deaths and injuries associated with this event, although building safety has been a long standing political issue in Bangladesh, marked by events such as the Tazreen Factory Fire in 2012, in which at least 112 people died in a fire at a nine-story factory building with insufficient fire escapes, and the Rana Plaza collapse in 2013, in which an eight story commercial building collapsed, killing 1134 people. Since 2013, the Bangladesh Accord on Fire and Building Safety, 2018 Transition Key Accord, and most recently the Readymade Sustainability Council, have sort to get international garment manufacturing companies operating in Bangladesh to sign up to fire and building safety protocols, but there remains little general building regulation.

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Magnitude 6.3 Earthquake in northern Afghanistan leaves at least 20 dead.

The United States Geological Survey recorded a Magnitude 6.3 Earthquake at a depth of 28 km, roughly 22 km to the southwest of the town of Kholm in Samangan Province, northern Afghanistan, slightly before 1.00 am local time on Monday 3 November 2025 (slightly before 8.30 pm on Sunday 2 November GMT). The event is known to have killed at least 20 people, with that number likely to rise. A further 640 people are known to have been injured, with 25 described as being in critical conditions, with thousands of homes destroyed or damaged across the region. The Earthquake was felt across much of northern Afghanistan, as well as neighbouring areas of Uzbekistan and Tajikistan.

Earthquake survivors searching through the remains of a house in the village of Tashqurghan, near Khulm in northern Afghanistan, following a Magnitude 6.3 Earthquake on Monday 3 November 2025. Atif Aryan/AFP.

The boundary between the Indian and Eurasian tectonic plates runs close to northern Afghanistan. The Indian Plate is moving northward relative to the Eurasian Plate, causing folding and uplift along this boundary, which has led to the formation of the Hindu Kush Mountains of Afghanistan, the Himalayas and the other mountain ranges of Central Asia., and which makes the nations in this boundary zone prone to Earthquakes.

Plate boundaries and movements beneath southern Pakistan, Iran and the Arabian Sea. University of Southampton.

While the occurrence of Earthquakes in Afghanistan is inevitable, the situation is made far worse by the country's weak infrastructure, with few buildings having any form of Earthquake-proofing. Homes are typically made from concrete and brick in urban areas, and wood and mud brick in rural areas, with little in the way of building regulations, and neither material help nor advice available to people who might want to invest in improving the resilience of their properties. Previous natural disasters in Afghanistan have seen many people displaced internally by the loss of both homes and infrastructure as well as shortages of drinkable water, and local hospitals and medical centres struggling to cope due to shortages of medicines, equipment, and staff (in particular female staff).

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Magnitude 5.6 Earthquake in Gansu Province, China.

The China Earthquake Networks Center recorded a Magnitude 6.8 Earthquake at a depth of 10 km beneath Longxi County in southern Gansu Province, slightly before 5.50 am local time on Saturday 27 September 2025 (slightly before 9.50 pm on Friday 26 September, GMT). The Earthquake was felt across southeastern Gansu. Seventeen houses were destroyed by the event, with 4382 damaged, eleven people injured and 7812 in need of at least temporary rehousing. 

Emergency workers clearing debris following a Magnitude 5.6 Earthquake in Gansu Province, China, on Saturday 27 September 2025. Xinhau.

Much of western China and neighbouring areas of Central Asia and the Himalayas, are prone to Earthquakes caused by the impact of the Indian Plate into Eurasia from the south. The Indian Plate is moving northwards at a rate of 5 cm per year, causing it to impact into Eurasia, which is also moving northward, but only at a rate of 2 cm per year. When two tectonic plates collide in this way and one or both are oceanic then one will be subducted beneath the other (if one of the plates is continental then the other will be subducted), but if both plates are continental then subduction will not fully occur, but instead the plates will crumple, leading to folding and uplift (and quite a lot of Earthquakes). The collision of the Indian and Eurasian plates has lead to the formation of the Himalayan Mountains, the Tibetan Plateau, and the mountains of southwest China, Central Asia and the Hindu Kush.

Tectonic map of Asia, showing relationships between the India–Asia collision, escape of Indonesian and South China blocks seaward, and extension from Siberia to the Pacific margin. (Note also the opening of back-arc basins including the Sea of Japan and the South China Sea, and extension in the Bohai Basin and eastern part of the NCC.) The North China Craton is also strongly influenced by Pacific and palaeo-Pacific subduction, perhaps also inducing extension in the eastern NCC. The palaeo Pacific and Pacific subduction zones developed in the Mesozoic, and also contributed to the hydration of the subcontinental lithospheric mantle beneath the NCC. Kusky et al. (2007).

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More than 800 dead following Magnitude 6.0 Earthquake in eastern Afghanistan.

The United States Geological Survey recorded a Magnitude 6.0 Earthquake at a depth of 8 km, roughly 27 km to the northeast of the city of Jalālābād in Nangarhar Province, eastern Afghanistan, slightly after 11.45 pm local time (slightly after 7.15 pm GMT) on Sunday 31 August 2025. The quake was felt across eastern Afghanistan and northern Pakistan, as well as in parts of northern India, and is reported to have completely destroyed several villages in Kunar Province, on the border with Pakistan. At the time of writing, more than 800 people have been confirmed to have died, with that number expected to rise significantly over the coming days. A further 2500 people are known to have been injured by the event, and the Taliban government of Afghanistan is appealing to the international community for help with rescue and reconstruction efforts.

The approximate location of the 31 August 2025 Afghanistan Earthquake. USGS.

The boundary between the Indian and Eurasian tectonic plates runs close to northern Afghanistan. The Indian Plate is moving northward relative to the Eurasian Plate, causing folding and uplift along this boundary, which has led to the formation of the Hindu Kush Mountains of Afghanistan, the Himalayas and the other mountain ranges of Central Asia., and which makes the nations in this boundary zone prone to Earthquakes.

Plate boundaries and movements beneath southern Pakistan, Iran and the Arabian Sea. University of Southampton.

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Magnitude 6.8 earthquake in southern Tibet kills at least 126 people.

The China Earthquake Networks Center recorded a Magnitude 6.8 Earthquake at a depth of 10 km beneath Tingri County in southern Tibet, close to Mount Everest and the border with Tibet at about 9.05 am local time on Tuesday 7 January 2025 (about 1.05 am, GMT). The Earthquake was felt across southern Tibet, eastern Nepal, western Bhutan, northeastern India and northern Bangladesh. More than 150 aftershocks have been recorded since the original event.

The approximate location of the 7 January 2025 Tibet Earthquake. USGS.

At the time of writing rescue workers have reported 126 deaths and 188 people injured in Tibet and another five injuries in Nepal. However, the number of casualties is likely to rise significantly, as the population in the area around the epicentre of the Earthquake largely live in small, remote villages, largely cut off from the outside world, and which are subsequently difficult for rescue workers to reach. To make matters worse, daytime temperatures in the area average -8°C at this time of year, falling to -18°C at night. More than a thousand homes have been damaged or destroyed in areas that rescue workers have managed to reach, so is likely that in other areas people may have lost  their homes or be trapped beneath debris, vulnerable to the cold.

Rescue workers in Tingri County, Tibet, following a Magnitude 6.8 Earthquake on Tuesday 7 January 2024. Xinhua/AP.

Earthquake activity in the area is caused by the uplift of the Tibetan Plateau, due to the impact of India into Eurasia to the south. he Indian Plate is moving northwards at a rate of 5 cm per year, causing it to impact into Eurasia, which is also moving northward, but only at a rate of 2 cm per year. The collision of the Indian and Eurasian plates has led to the formation of the Himalayan Mountains, the Tibetan Plateau, and the mountains of southwest China, Central Asia and the Hindu Kush.

Block diagram showing how the impact of the Indian Plate into Eurasia is causing uplift on the Tibetan Plateau. Jayne Doucette/Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution.

Much of Tibet and neighbouring areas of Central Asia and the Himalayas, are prone to Earthquakes caused by the impact of the Indian Plate into Eurasia from the south. When two tectonic plates collide in this way and one or both are oceanic then one will be subducted beneath the other (if one of the plates is continental then the other will be subducted), but if both plates are continental then subduction will not fully occur, but instead the plates will crumple, leading to folding and uplift (and quite a lot of Earthquakes). The collision of the Indian and Eurasian plates has lead to the formation of the Himalayan Mountains, the Tibetan Plateau, and the mountains of southwest China, Central Asia and the Hindu Kush.

The movement of India into Eurasia over the last 71 million years. USGS.

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