December 29, 2008 Earthquake: Mansehra, Shangla, Afghanistan, Pakistan
A magnitude 5.8 earthquake struck Mansehra, Shangla, Afghanistan, Pakistan on December 29, 2008 at 03:37:41 UTC, 158 km below the surface.
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
- December 29, 2008
- Time
- 03:37:41 UTC
- Place
- Mansehra, Shangla, Afghanistan, Pakistan
- Magnitude
- 5.8 (Mw)
- Focal depth
- 158 km (98 mi)
- Tsunami
- None recorded
- Epicenter
- 36.401° N, 71.075° E
- Country
- Afghanistan
The toll
- Damage
- Limited (under about $1 million)
- Houses damaged
- Few (about 1 to 50) 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.
Some buildings damaged slightly in the Mansehra and Shangla areas, Pakistan. Felt at Abbottabad, Chitral, Hazara, Islamabad, Lahore and Rawalpindi. Felt (II) at Bagrami and Kabul, Afghanistan. Also felt at Asadabad, Charikar, Gardiz,
Mazar-e Sharif and Konduz. Felt (III) at Dushanbe,
Tajikistan. Also felt at Khorugh. Felt at Gilgit,
Muzaffarabad and in the Kashmir Valley, Kashmir and at
Tashkent, Uzbekistan. (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
- 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 2008The 2000sEvery quake the USGS located in 2008Recent 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 8257.