March 3, 2002 Earthquake: Samanghan, Kabul, Rustaq, Hindu Kush, Afghanistan
A magnitude 7.4 earthquake struck Samanghan, Kabul, Rustaq, Hindu Kush, Afghanistan on March 3, 2002 at 12:08:19 UTC, 226 km below the surface. It killed 166 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
- March 3, 2002
- Time
- 12:08:19 UTC
- Place
- Samanghan, Kabul, Rustaq, Hindu Kush, Afghanistan
- Magnitude
- 7.4 (Mw)
- Focal depth
- 226 km (140 mi)
- Tsunami
- None recorded
- Epicenter
- 36.502° N, 70.482° E
- Country
- Afghanistan
The toll
- Deaths
- 166
- Injuries
- Some (about 51 to 100)
- Damage
- Severe (about $5 to $25 million)
- Houses destroyed
- 300
- Houses damaged
- 300; 400 with its tsunami and other effects
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.
At least 150 people killed, several injured and 400 houses damaged or destroyed by a landslide that dammed and flooded Surkundara Valley, Samangan Province. At least 13 people killed at Kabul and Rostaq and 3 people killed in Bajaur, Pakistan. At least 300 houses destroyed in Badakhshan and Takhar Provinces. A 45 meter wide fissure opened in Xiker
Reservoir in Xinjiang, China. Felt in much of Afghanistan and Pakistan. Felt (VI) at Dushanbe, Tajikistan. Felt (V) at Qarshi, Samarqand and Tashkent; (IV) at Andijon and Namangan, Uzbekistan. Felt (V) at Osh; (IV) at Batken and Sufi-Kurgan; (III) at Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan. Felt (III) at Shymkent, Taraz and Zhambyl, Kazakhstan. Also felt in India and Xinjiang, China. (reference #1053)
Other significant earthquakes nearby
Within 200 km, the deadliest first.
- May 30, 1998, Badakhshan, Takhar, Afghanistan
- February 4, 1998, Dushanbe, Rostaq, Tajikistan, 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
- 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
- April 3, 2026, Kabul, Afghanistan
- June 24, 1972, Sarsangi, Narin Counties, Hindu Kush, Afghanistan
- October 25, 1990, Chitral, Mardan, Malakand, Hindu Kush, Afghanistan
- April 10, 2016, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Afghanistan
- October 22, 2009, Hindu Kush, Afghanistan
More
Significant earthquakes of 2002The 2000sEvery quake the USGS located in 2002Recent 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 5624.