2002 Hindu Kush earthquakes
The 2002 Hindu Kush earthquakes struck northern Afghanistan, with the two most destructive events occurring in March. At least 169 people were killed with a very large and intermediate-depth 7.4 event on March 3. Three weeks later, at least 1,200 were killed during a moderate but shallow 6.1 event that had a maximum Mercalli intensity of VII. A 5.9 aftershock on April 12, which had a Mercalli intensity of VII, killed an additional 50 people. The 7.4 and 6.1 reverse events were focused in the Hindu Kush mountain range area.
Tectonic setting
Northern Afghanistan lies within the broad zone of continuing collision between the Indian plate and the Eurasian plate. The area is seismically active, particularly as a result of faulting at just over 200 km depth within the descending slab. Many large events of M ≥ 7 have been observed in the Hindu Kush, all with similar epicenters, with an approximate periodicity of about 10–15 years. These events have reverse fault focal mechanisms, which for the near-vertical slab indicates active extension. It has been proposed that these earthquakes are a result of "necking" of the downgoing slab, a process that may eventually lead to break-off.Smaller shallow focus earthquakes are also observed in the region, particularly associated with north–south trending zones of right lateral strike-slip, such as the Chaman Fault, with an increasing degree of shortening to the north, together accommodating the highly oblique convergence between the Indian plate and the Eurasian plate.
Earthquakes
On January 3, at 07:05 UTC, a 6.2 earthquake struck with a hypocenter beneath the surface struck with an epicenter north-northwest of Parun, with a maximum Modified Mercalli intensity of V in the cities of Dushanbe and Khorog in Tajikistan; tremors from this earthquake were felt as far away as Tashkent in Uzbekistan, Multan in Pakistan and Northwest India. On March 3, 6.3 foreshock occurred at 12:08 UTC. The mainshock struck 12 seconds later and had a magnitude of 7.4, with a hypocentral depth of and a Mercalli intensity of VI. The focal mechanism is consistent with reverse faulting within subducting oceanic crust. Comparison with similar earthquakes in 1993 and 2015, which have very similar depths and epicenters, suggests that the major component of the slip in all three events occurred on the same part of the fault.The March 25 event had a magnitude of 6.1, with a hypocentral depth of. It had a reverse fault mechanism that occurred on one of two possible moderately-dipping north–south trending faults. It was followed by a series of aftershocks which lasted for weeks, including a 5.6 event on March 27, and another measuring 5.9 on April 12; both events had an estimated Mercalli intensity of VII.
Damage and casualties
March 3 event
At least 150 people and 500 livestock were killed, 50 were missing and 15 more were hurt by a landslide that dammed and flooded the Surkundara Valley in Samangan Province. The landslide, which was a result of a high mountain cliff collapsing and covering an area of with debris, buried an estimated 200 people and destroyed 100 homes, hundreds of jeribs of farmland and of road, with the landslide damaging 300 additional houses.In the Kabul-Rustaq area, 13 people died; 20 others were injured, 38 homes were destroyed and 100 more suffered damage in eastern areas of Kabul. Minor damage was also reported in surrounding areas, while several homes reportedly collapsed in Gulbahar. The earthquake also killed two people and destroyed 340 homes at the village of Khustak in Jurm District, while Baharak District recorded one death and 47 damaged households. Fifty homes also collapsed in Keshem. Eleven female students were injured, one of them critically, when a staircase at a girls' school in Jalalabad collapsed as they tried to flee the building.
A few people were injured and 470 houses, 30 schools and 30 medical facilities were damaged across Tajikistan, with 116 of the affected structures receiving severe damage; 79 homes, a school and a hospital collapsed in Jayhun District, 20 homes were destroyed and 30 others, 18 schools and of power and communication lines were damaged in Ishkoshim District, and 65 households suffered damage at Rushon District. In Dushanbe, 15 residential buildings were destroyed while many other structures, including the Ayni Opera and Ballet Theatre, Lohuti Drama Theatre and the National Library of Tajikistan building suffered minor damage. In Pakistan, three people were killed in Bajaur, while 12 others were treated for minor injuries in Peshawar. A wide fissure opened near Xiker Reservoir in Xinjiang, China.