Outreach & Policy

At 09:09 (GMT) on Monday 26 October an earthquake hit the north-eastern area of Afghanistan near the Tajikistan and Pakistani border. The earthquake was magnitude 7.5. It occurred as the result of reverse faulting approximately 210 km below the Hindu Kush Range of mountains in Afghanistan.

This earthquake occurred in the broader tectonic setting of the Indian subcontinent moving northwards and colliding with Eurasia at a velocity of 37mm/yr. Active faults and the resultant earthquakes in this region, such as the recent earthquake in Nepal, are the direct result of the convergence of the India and Eurasia plates. This convergence has also given rise to the Himalayan, Karakoram, Pakir and Hindu Kush ranges.

Seven other M7 or greater earthquakes have occurred within 250km of this event over the preceding century, the most recent being a M 7.4 just 20km away.

The Afghanistan Earthquake & Himalaya Seismic Hazards:

USGS have put together some information on their website detailing when and where the earthquake occurred and the tectonic setting with some useful maps and diagrams.

• 26 October Afghanistan Earthquake summary

Earthquake Track pinpoints earthquakes in the area with details on the quake.

• 26 October earthquake

Wired.com sees the earthquake from a different perspective.

• The Upside of Afghanistan's quake: It Struck Deep

Himalaya Tectonics

As part of GSL's 2014 conference on Sustainable Resource Development in the Himalaya, Tim Wright of the University of Leeds gave a lecture on 'Active Deformation and Seismic Hazard in the India-Asia collision zone' which includes some background on the tectonics of this region. View the slides from his presentation.

Earthquakes - General Resources

Geological Society web resources

• Earthquakes: prediction, forecasting and mitigation 
• Geology for Society - Geohazards resource page
• Earthquakes Education Factsheet

Geological Society Lectures and Podcasts

London Lectures

• When Continents Collide: Active Deformation and Seismic Hazard - Tim Wright, University of Leeds  

• Earthquakes and Tsunamis in the Modern World  - James Jackson, University of Cambridge
  
• When the Shaking Stops: Effects of Large Earthquakes - Alex Densmore, University of Durham 

Podcasts

• When Continents Collide - Tim Wright, University of Leeds
• Million Death Quake - Roger Musson, British Geological Survey
• Geological Hazards - home and away - Ian Main, University of Edinburgh and Martin Culshaw, British Geological Survey 
• Ground Shaking Research - Richard Sibson, University of Otago

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