Extreme News Reporter Huang Jiaqi
According to Xinhua News Agency, on October 15, a 6.3-magnitude earthquake struck northwest of Herat, the capital of Herat province in northwestern Afghanistan, with a focal depth of 8.2 kilometers. This is the fourth earthquake of magnitude 6 or higher in Afghanistan since 7 October, and the strongest.
On the 7th of this month, two 6.2-magnitude earthquakes occurred in northwest Afghanistan, both with a focal depth of 10 kilometers. Since then, aftershocks have continued in Herat province, where the epicenter is located. On the 11th, another 6.3 magnitude earthquake occurred in the area, with a focal depth of 10 kilometers.
Four earthquakes of magnitude 6 or higher occurred in half a month, and the disaster situation in Afghanistan is very touching. On the 15th, Wang Dun, a professor at the School of Earth Sciences of China University of Geosciences, told polar news reporters that in fact, in the Mediterranean-Himalayan seismic belt, such intensity and frequency of seismic activity is not uncommon.
On October 11, in the village of Naibrafi, Zindajan District, Herat Province, western Afghanistan, villagers look for the bodies of the victims on the rubble (Source: Xinhua)
Earthquake expert: The frequency of earthquakes in Afghanistan is not surprising
"The epicenter of this earthquake is located in the Mediterranean-Himalayan seismic zone, and geologically located in the intraplate deformation zone inside the Eurasian plate. Influenced by the Arabian and Indian plates, the tectonic deformation activity in Afghanistan is strong. Professor Wang Dun introduced that although there is no historical strong earthquake recorded by seismic instruments near the epicenter of the earthquake, from the perspective of regional tectonic background and active tectonic landform, the active deformation characteristics of the region are very obvious, and the tectonic activity is relatively intense. Therefore, it is not too unexpected to have a series of moderately strong earthquakes of about magnitude 6, releasing tectonic stress.
Tectonic environment in Afghanistan and surrounding areas, white arrows indicate the relative plate movement direction of the Arabian and Indian plates relative to the Eurasian plate (Source: Shandong Earthquake Bureau)
Professor Wang Dun said that the Afghan earthquake swarm occurs in a strong extruded tectonic zone, which is mainly manifested as thrust faults and fold deformation, and its active deformation pattern is complex, and medium and strong earthquakes are frequent. In the Mediterranean-Himalayan seismic belt, seismic activity of this intensity and frequency is not uncommon.
Historically, the phenomenon of major earthquakes and earthquakes has been common in Afghanistan.
Scene after the earthquake in Afghanistan in June 2022 (Source: CCTV News)
Last June, A magnitude 5.9 earthquake struck southeastern Afghanistan with a focal depth of 30 kilometers, killing more than 1,000 people, injuring nearly 2,000 and leaving tens of thousands homeless; in 2015, a magnitude 7.5 earthquake struck the Hindu Kush region of northeastern Afghanistan bordering Pakistan with a depth of 210 kilometers and killed nearly 400 people in both countries; on March 25, 2002, a magnitude 6.1 earthquake struck Baghlan Province in the Hindu Kush mountains of northern Afghanistan, killing 1,800 people, injuring more than 2,000 and leaving tens of thousands homeless; and in May 1998, a 6.1-magnitude earthquake struck northeastern Afghanistan with multiple aftershocks, killing at least 4,500 people.
Despite the frequent earthquakes in Afghanistan, the local capacity to respond to earthquake disasters has led to repeated losses and even humanitarian crises. According to Xinhua News Agency, data released by Afghanistan's official local time on October 8 showed that the earthquake in the western region of the country on the 7th had killed more than 2,400 people. The situation is likely to worsen with two more earthquakes of magnitude 6 or higher and a shortage of relief forces in the affected areas.
In this regard, Professor Wang Dun explained that most earthquakes in the world are characterized by a mainshock-aftershock sequence, and after the main shock of larger magnitude, some aftershocks of smaller magnitude continue to occur, and the Afghan earthquake is manifested as a swarm type, and so far there have been many medium-strong earthquakes above magnitude 6. The superposition of seismic damage effects is easy to cause more casualties. In addition, compared with other countries in the world, Afghanistan is relatively economically underdeveloped, and there is a large gap in the seismic performance of houses compared with developed countries such as Japan, which may be the root cause of more casualties.
On October 11, people carried out post-earthquake rescue in the village of Naibrafi, Zindajan District, Herat Province, western Afghanistan (Source: Xinhua)
China provides humanitarian assistance
After successive earthquakes in Afghanistan this month, the Chinese government provided emergency humanitarian assistance to Afghanistan.
On the 12th, Xu Wei, spokesman of the China International Development Cooperation Agency, said that the Chinese government is providing emergency humanitarian assistance of 30 million yuan to Afghanistan to help Afghanistan carry out post-earthquake relief work. According to the needs of the Afghan side, the Chinese aid materials mainly include tents, folding beds, thick blankets, down jackets, cotton clothing, quilts, family bags, etc., which will arrive and be distributed to local victims in the near future. In addition, China is also stepping up the implementation of the humanitarian arrangements it previously made to Afghanistan such as emergency food aid.
In addition, the Red Cross Society of China has also decided to donate a batch of emergency humanitarian aid to the Afghan Red Crescent Society to support its disaster relief work. The materials were shipped from Urumqi on October 15, mainly including cotton tents, folding beds, quilts, storm jackets, etc.
(Source: Polar Eye News)
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