The United States Geological Survey recorded a Magnitude 6.3 Earthquake at a depth of 10.0 km, roughly 40 km to the northeast of the city of Herat in northeast Afghanistan, slightly after 11.40 am local time (slightly after 7.10 m GMT) on Saturday 7 October 2023. Six villages are reported to have been more-or-less completely destroyed, with 2053 people currently reported dead, and 9240 injured, with 1329 buildings destroyed or damaged, making the event most deadly Earthquake in Afghanistan for more than two decades. Building collapses are a particular danger in Afghanistan as many buildings are made of mud bricks, which can liquify in Earthquakes, forming a fine dust which asphyxiates people trapped beneath fallen structures. The initial Earthquake has been followed by several large aftershocks, at least three of which have had Magnitudes in excess of 5.0.
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.
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