M 6.3 in Afghanistan on 15 Oct 2023 03:36 UTC

Event summary

This earthquake can have a high humanitarian impact based on the magnitude and the affected population and their vulnerability.

GDACS ID EQ 1396085
Earthquake Magnitude: 6.3M
Glide number: EQ-2023-000195-AFG
Depth: 6.3 Km
Lat/Lon: 34.6094 , 62.1115
Event Date: 15 Oct 2023 03:36 UTC
15 Oct 2023 08:06 Local
Exposed Population: 80 thousand (in MMI>=VII)
Inserted at: 15 Oct 2023 04:20 UTC
INFORM Coping capacity:
7.5 (Afghanistan)

GDACS Score

For more info on GDACS alert score click here.
  Earthquake
(Shakemap)		 GDACS score
NEIC 3.3 3.3
us6000lfn5 Scaled population (raster) 4.11  
  C1 shakemap -0.59  
  C2 shakemap 0.53  
  Country Vulnerability 0  
  INFORM_normalised 1.29  
Maximum expected impact using different data sources.
Virtual OSOCC
Meteo assessment
Satellite products
Analytical products
Afghanistan - Earthquakes, update (ECHO 16 Oct 2023)Mon, 16 Oct 2023 10:25

  • A new strong earthquake of 6.3 M occurred at a depth of 6.3 km in Herat Province, Afghanistan, on 15 October at 03:36 UTC (08:06 local time). The epicentre was located in the Zinda Jan District, 28 km north-northwest of Herat City. The event was followed by an aftershock of 5.4 M at a depth of 10 km at 3:56 UTC (8:26 local time), with the epicentre located approximately 4 km south-east from the main earthquake.
  • According to USGS, approximately 4,000 people were exposed to severe shaking and 373,000 to very strong shaking. Media report as of 16 October four fatalities, 153 injured people and an uncertain number of collapsed buildings across the affected area. Assessments by ECHO partners are ongoing.
  • Both earthquakes occurred in close proximity to the previous earthquakes of 7 and 11 October that caused more than 1,384 fatalities and 1,853 injuries, affected over 19,250 people and damaged approximately 21,300 buildings in the area.
M6.3 in Afghanistan - EC/ECHO daily mapMon, 16 Oct 2023 18:08

A new EC/ECHO daily map is now available
Detailed event map. European Union, 2025. Map produced by EC-JRC.
The boundaries and the names shown on this map do not imply official endorsement or acceptance by the European Union.

Updates on volcanic activity (Smithsonian)

Latest media headlines

Afghanistan Earthquakes: ‘Staggering’ Health Consequences 10/21/2023 9:54:00 PM.

Temperatures have already started to drop into single figures. With about two-thirds of the affected areas assessed, more than 21,500 homes are confirmed destroyed and a further 17,000 severely damaged, according to the UN humanitarian affa
...(more)
'Some men bin no gree touch women wey injure or die' 10/21/2023 8:25:00 PM.

Di United Nations don confam say about 90% of pipo wey di 7 October Afghanistan earthquake kill na women and pikin dem. Di earthquake happun for di Herat province for di western part of di kontri and UN say e kill almost 1,300 pipo. Di BBC
...(more)
Feature: China-donated tents provide sigh of relief to quake-affected .. 10/21/2023 6:05:00 PM.

People are seen near China-donated tents in Herat Province, Afghanistan. West Afghanistan's Herat province has experienced its ever-destructive earthquakes in recent decades as several tremors, some measuring a magnitude 6.3, caused thousan
...(more)
Feature: China-donated tents provide sigh of relief to quake-affected .. 10/21/2023 6:02:00 PM.

People are seen near China-donated tents in Herat Province, Afghanistan. West Afghanistan's Herat province has experienced its ever-destructive earthquakes in recent decades as several tremors, some measuring a magnitude 6.3, caused thousan
...(more)

View more news

Estimated casualties (PAGER)

USGS estimates the number of casualties for each earthquake for the Prompt Assessment of Global Earthquakes for Response (PAGER) product.
The graph shows the current fatalities estimate.

Exposed population

Data, images, links, services and documents

For this events, GDACS has links to information from the following sources: EC-JRC (48), (3), NEIC (4), OCHA (1), INGV (1), USGS (5), WMO (1), INFORM (2),