February 16, 1984 Earthquake: Chitral-Landi, Hindu Kush, Pakistan-Nw Afghanistan
A magnitude 6.1 earthquake struck Chitral-Landi, Hindu Kush, Pakistan-Nw Afghanistan on February 16, 1984 at 17:18:41 UTC, 208 km below the surface. It killed 4 people.
Map
Where it struck, with the other significant earthquakes within 200 km. Circles are sized and colored by magnitude; select one for its page.
The earthquake
- Date
- February 16, 1984
- Time
- 17:18:41 UTC
- Place
- Chitral-Landi, Hindu Kush, Pakistan-Nw Afghanistan
- Magnitude
- 6.1 (mb)
- Focal depth
- 208 km (129 mi)
- Intensity
- VI, strong shaking, on the Modified Mercalli scale
- Tsunami
- None recorded
- Epicenter
- 36.431° N, 70.826° E
- Country
- Pakistan
- Region
- South and Southeast Asia and Indian Ocean
- USGS record
- The USGS’s page for this earthquake
The toll
- Deaths
- 4
- Injuries
- 13
- Damage
- $5 million
Where the literature gives no number, NCEI records a description on a scale of 1 to 4, printed here in its words. Damage is in millions of US dollars of the year of the event, not adjusted for inflation.
What happened
The USGS’s account of the effects of this earthquake.
Four people killed, 13 injured and considerable damage in the Chitral-Landi Kotal, Pakistan area. Felt in the areas of Faisalabad, Islamabad, Lahore, and Rawalpindi, Pakistan. Minor damage (VI) in the Ishkashim-Khorog area and at Parkhar, USSR. Felt strongly in much of northwestern Afghanistan, northern India, and (III) in the Samarkand-Frunze, USSR area. FAULT PLANE SOLUTION: P-Waves NP1:Strike=32 Dip=54 Slip=88 NP2:Strike=215 Dip=36 Slip=93 Principal Axes: (T) Plg=81 Azm=293 (P) Plg=9 Azm=123 Comment: The focal mechanism is moderately well controlled and corresponds to reverse faulting. The preferred fault plane is not determined. MOMENT TENSOR SOLUTION Dep 196 No. of sta: 16 Moment Tensor; Scale 10**25 d-cm Mrr=4.05 Mtt=-3.39 Mff=-0.66 Mrt=1.14 Mrf=1.43 Mtf=-1.58 Principal axes: (T) Val=4.51 Plg=75 Azm=291 (N) Val=-0.08 Plg=10 Azm=61 (P) Val=-4.43 Plg=11 Azm=153 Best Double Couple:Mo=4.5*10**25 NP1:Strike=256 Dip=35 Slip=107 NP2:Strike=55 Dip=57 Slip=78 CENTROID, MOMENT TENSOR (HRV) Data Used: GDSN L.P.B.: 25S, 61C Centroid Location: Origin Time 17:18:44.7 0.2 Lat 36.25N 0.02 Lon 70.66E 0.03 Dep 204.2 1.0 Half-duration 6.0 Moment Tensor; Scale 10**25 D-CM Mrr=3.73 0.09 Mtt=-3.81 0.13 Mff=0.08 0.14 Mrt=1.57 0.10 Mrf=1.56 0.09 Mtf=-1.52 0.13 Principal Axes: (T) Val=4.43 Plg=71 Azm=293 (N) Val=0.38 Plg=13 Azm=65 (P) Val=-4.81 Plg=13 Azm=159 Best Double Couple:Mo=4.6*10**25 NP1:Strike=266 Dip=34 Slip=114 NP2:Strike=58 Dip=60 Slip=75
From the USGS event page for usp000221d. U.S. Geological Survey text and figures are in the public domain.
Magnitude estimates
The magnitudes the USGS catalog lists for this earthquake, by scale and by who computed them. NCEI’s own scales are in the table above.
| Mag. | Scale | Computed by | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 6.4 | Mw, moment | USGS National Earthquake Information Center | Preferred · Reviewed |
| 6.38 | Mw, moment | ISC-GEM global catalog | Final · ±0.1 |
| 6.4 | Mwc, centroid moment | Global CMT project | Preliminary |
What the record says
NCEI’s account, from the sources it cites.
Reference #1053 lists earthquake on Feb 16, 1984. Four people killed, 13 injured and considerable damage in the Chitral-Landi Kotal, Pakistan area. Felt in the areas of Faisalabad, Islamabad, Lahore, and Rawalpindi, Pakitan. Minor damage (VI) in the Ishkashim-Khorog area and at Parkhar. Felt strongly in much of northwestern Afghanistan, northern India and (III) in the Samarkand-Frunze area.
Reference #1250 lists earthquake on Feb 17, 1984, $5 million dollars damage, 4 deaths, 12 injuries. [probably describing earthquake on Feb 16]
Sources NCEI cites
The publications NCEI lists for this record. The numbers match the “reference #” notes in its account above.
- #1250 Centre for Research on the Epidemiology of Disasters (CRED) and the U.S. Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance (OFDA) (2001). EM-DAT: The OFDA/CRED International Disaster Database, Universite Catholique de Louvain, Brussels, Belgium, link
- #1053 National Earthquake Information Center (NEIC) (1971 to 2013). Preliminary Determination of Epicenters (PDE), a weekly and monthly publication, National Earthquake Information Center, U.S. Geological Survey, Golden, Colorado, 1971 to 2013.
- #1140 U.S. Geological Survey. Earthquake Information Bulletin, a bimonthly U.S. Geological Survey publication; H. Spall, editor.
- #1232 International Seismological Centre (1964-1990). Regional Catalogue of Earthquakes, 1964-1990, Edinburgh, Scotland.
Other significant earthquakes nearby
Within 200 km, the deadliest first.
- May 30, 1998, Badakhshan, Takhar, Afghanistan
- February 4, 1998, Dushanbe, Rostaq, Tajikistan, Afghanistan
- August 31, 2025, Kunar, Nangarhar, Afghanistan
- March 25, 2002, Baghlan, Nahrin, Hindu Kush, Afghanistan
- January 31, 1991, Badakhstan, Baghlan, Laghman, Nagarhar, Afghanistan
- December 16, 1982, Northeastern, Afghanistan
- October 26, 2015, Hindu Kush, Afghanistan
- March 3, 2002, Samanghan, Kabul, Rustaq, Hindu Kush, Afghanistan
- June 11, 2012, Hindu Kush, Afghanistan
- July 13, 1990, Pik Lenina, Hindu Kush, Afghanistan
- December 30, 1983, Kabul, Samangan, Pakistan, Hindu Kush, Afghanistan
- March 21, 2023, Laghman, Pakistan, Afghanistan
- March 19, 1997, Bajaur, Chitral, Pakistan
- April 3, 2026, Kabul, Afghanistan
- June 24, 1972, Sarsangi, Narin Counties, Hindu Kush, Afghanistan
More
Significant earthquakes of 1984The 1900sEvery quake the USGS located in 1984Recent earthquakes near hereThis day in weather history
Sources
Significant earthquakes from NOAA’s National Centers for Environmental Information, Global Historical Hazard Database, cited as NCEI/WDS, doi:10.7289/V5PN93H7. Public domain. Read 2026-10-01. NCEI earthquake 5027. The written accounts and the magnitude estimates are from the USGS earthquake catalog, event usp000221d, matched to this record by time, place and magnitude.