October 22, 2009 Earthquake: Hindu Kush, Afghanistan
A magnitude 6.1 earthquake struck Hindu Kush, Afghanistan on October 22, 2009 at 19:51:27 UTC, 18 km below the surface. It killed 5 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
- October 22, 2009
- Time
- 19:51:27 UTC
- Place
- Hindu Kush, Afghanistan
- Magnitude
- 6.1 (Mw)
- Focal depth
- 18 km (11 mi)
- Tsunami
- None recorded
- Epicenter
- 36.517° N, 70.950° E
- Country
- Afghanistan
The toll
- Deaths
- 5
- Damage
- Limited (under about $1 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 the record says
NCEI’s account, from the sources it cites.
Felt (V) at Faizabad; (IV) at Charikar, Jalalabad, Konduz and Kabul; (III) at Baghlan, Bagrami, Eshkashem and Jabal os Saraj. Also felt at Khowst and Mazar-e Sharif. Three people killed by landslides and 2 others died of heart attacks in Mirpur, Pakistan. Felt (IV) at Islamabad, Peshawar and Rawalpindi; (III) at Lahore and Quetta. Also felt at Abottabad, Chitral and Multan. Felt (IV) at Amritsar,
Mohali and Srinagar; (III) at Chadigarh; (II) at Delhi
and Gurgaon, India. Felt (III) at Dushanbe, Tajikistan
and Tashkent, Uzbekistan. Felt at Shymkent and Taraz,
Kazakhstan. (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
- 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
- October 25, 1990, Chitral, Mardan, Malakand, Hindu Kush, Afghanistan
More
Significant earthquakes of 2009The 2000sEvery quake the USGS located in 2009Recent 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 8574.