May 13, 1997 Earthquake: Hindu-Kush, Malakand-Peshawar, Afghanistan
A magnitude 6.4 earthquake struck Hindu-Kush, Malakand-Peshawar, Afghanistan on May 13, 1997 at 14:13:45 UTC, 196 km below the surface. It killed 1 person.
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
- May 13, 1997
- Time
- 14:13:45 UTC
- Place
- Hindu-Kush, Malakand-Peshawar, Afghanistan
- Magnitude
- 6.4 (Mw)
- Focal depth
- 196 km (122 mi)
- Tsunami
- None recorded
- Epicenter
- 36.411° N, 70.945° E
- Country
- Afghanistan
The toll
- Deaths
- 1
- Injuries
- 11
- Damage
- Moderate (about $1 to $5 million)
- Houses damaged
- Some (about 51 to 100)
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 the record says
NCEI’s account, from the sources it cites.
One person killed and eleven injured in the Malakand-Peshawar area, Pakistan. One person injured at Kabul, Afghanistan. Houses damaged in many parts of northern Pakistan and at Srinagar, Kashmir. Felt strongly throughout northeastern Afghanistan, northern Pakistan and Tajikistan. Felt (IV) at Chardzhev, Turkmenistan; (IV) at Daroot-Korgan and Sopu-Korgon, Kyrgyzstan; (III) at Shymkent, Kazakhstan; (II) at Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan. Felt in Himachal Pradesh and as far as Delhi, India.
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 1997The 1900sEvery quake the USGS located in 1997Recent 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 2026-09-24. NCEI earthquake 5463.