M 6 in Afghanistan on 31 Aug 2025 19:17 UTC

Event summary

This earthquake can have a high humanitarian impact based on the magnitude and the affected population and their vulnerability.

GDACS ID EQ 1498339
Earthquake Magnitude: 6.0M
Glide number: EQ-2025-000153-AFG
Depth: 8 Km
Lat/Lon: 34.7061 , 70.7934
Event Date: 31 Aug 2025 19:17 UTC
31 Aug 2025 23:47 Local
Exposed Population: 1.1 million (in MMI>=VII)
Inserted at: 02 Sep 2025 21:19 UTC
INFORM Coping capacity:
7.5 (Afghanistan)
INFORM Coping capacity list: Afghanistan= 7.5; Pakistan= 5.7

GDACS Score

For more info on GDACS alert score click here.
  Earthquake
(Shakemap)
GDACS score
NEIC 4.4 4.4
us7000qsvj Scaled population (raster) 6.48  
  C1 shakemap -1.86  
  C2 shakemap 0.84  
  Country Vulnerability 0  
  INFORM_normalised 2.36  
Maximum expected impact using different data sources.
Virtual OSOCC
Meteo assessment
Satellite products
Analytical products
Afghanistan - Earthquake (ECHO 06 Sep 2025)Mon, 01 Sep 2025 10:21

  • An earthquake of 6 magnitude at a depth of 8 km occurred in north-eastern Afghanistan, near the Pakistan border, on 31 August at 19:17 UTC (23:47 local time). The epicentre was located approximately 27 km east-north-east of Jalalabad City in Nangarhar Province and 140 km east of Kabul City. At least five aftershocks ranging between 4.5 and 5.2 M were recorded in the area.
  • USGS PAGER reports that up to 203 000 people were exposed to very strong shaking and 1.42 million to strong shaking, mainly in the provinces of Kunar, Nangharhar and Laghman.
  • At least 800 fatalities have been reported, and more than 2 200 people are injured. These figures are expected to increase. There is massive and widespread damage to houses and infrastructure, and access roads are damaged or blocked.   
  • Immediate humanitarian needs include medical assistance, shelter, food and drinking water. 
  • Assessment and rescue operations are ongoing.
M6 in Afghanistan - UNITAR-UNOSAT ActivationTue, 02 Sep 2025 08:11

UNITAR-UNOSAT Potentially Damaged Buildings has been activated
M6 in Afghanistan - Copernicus EMS activationTue, 02 Sep 2025 20:06

[EMSR839] Earthquake in Afghanistan
M6 in Afghanistan - Copernicus EMS activationWed, 03 Sep 2025 16:52

[EMSR839] Earthquake in Afghanistan
M6 in Afghanistan - UNITAR-UNOSAT ActivationWed, 03 Sep 2025 11:47

UNITAR-UNOSAT Potentially Damaged Buildings has been activated
Afghanistan - Earthquake, update (ECHO 09 Sep 2025)Thu, 04 Sep 2025 10:27

  • The humanitarian impact of the 6.0 M earthquake that struck north-eastern Afghanistan on 31 August at 19:17 UTC (23:47 local time) continues to grow. The epicentre was located approximately 27 km northeast of Jalalabad City in Nangarhar Province.
  • According to UN OCHA and IOM, as of 3 September, 1,457 people have died, 3,394 have been injured, and 6,782 houses have been destroyed. The most severely affected districts include Nurgal and Chawkay (Kunar Province), Dara-e-Nur (Nangarhar Province), and parts of Laghman Province. Furthermore, approximately 497,000 people are affected, of whom 263,000 are children.
  • Humanitarian partners and de facto authorities are conducting response efforts. Access remains challenging due to the mountainous terrain, blocked roads, landslides, and limited communication infrastructure.
  • The Copernicus Emergency Management Service was activated in rapid mapping mode on 31 August () to support damage assessment and 16 products have been produced so far.
  • For the next 48 hours, additional rainfall is expected over the affected areas.
M6 in Afghanistan - Copernicus EMS activationFri, 05 Sep 2025 18:10

[EMSR839] Earthquake in Afghanistan
M6 in Afghanistan - Copernicus EMS activationSat, 06 Sep 2025 01:30

[EMSR839] Earthquake in Afghanistan
M6 in Afghanistan - EC/ECHO daily mapThu, 04 Sep 2025 17:42

A new EC/ECHO daily map is now available
M6 in Afghanistan - Copernicus EMS activationThu, 04 Sep 2025 18:30

[EMSR839] Earthquake in Afghanistan
M6 in Afghanistan - EC/ECHO daily mapMon, 08 Sep 2025 18:16

A new EC/ECHO daily map is now available
M6 in Afghanistan - UNITAR-UNOSAT ActivationTue, 09 Sep 2025 11:38

UNITAR-UNOSAT Potentially Damaged Buildings has been activated
M6 in Afghanistan - Copernicus EMS activationWed, 10 Sep 2025 04:23

[EMSR839] Earthquake in Afghanistan
M6 in Afghanistan - Copernicus EMS activationThu, 11 Sep 2025 17:30

[EMSR839] Earthquake in Afghanistan
Detailed event map. European Union, 2025. Map produced by EC-JRC.
The boundaries and the names shown on this map do not imply official endorsement or acceptance by the European Union.

Updates on volcanic activity (Smithsonian)

Latest media headlines

Earthquake of magnitude 6.2 strikes southeastern Afghanistan, Germany’.. 9/4/2025 7:13:00 PM.

A boy stands in front of houses damaged by a deadly earthquake that struck Afghanistan’s Kunar and Nangarhar provinces, at Masud village in Nurgal district, Kunar province, Afghanistan, on September 4, 2025. | Photo Credit: Reuters. A magn
...(more)
Afghanistan earthquake deaths climb to 2,200, entire villages levelled 9/4/2025 7:08:00 PM.

Hundreds more bodies have been recovered from houses in mountain villages destroyed by a major earthquake in Afghanistan early this week, pushing the death toll to more than 2,200, a Taliban government spokesperson said Thursday. ......
Afghanistan Earthquake Tragedy: Communities Devastated Amid Ongoing Cr.. 9/4/2025 6:58:00 PM.

A powerful earthquake in Afghanistan''s eastern region has claimed over 2,200 lives, with thousands of buildings damaged or destroyed. Aid efforts are challenged by terrain and funding shortages, while survivors face harsh living conditions
...(more)
Earthquake Tremors Felt in Delhi-NCR, Jammu and Kashmir After 5.8-Magn.. 9/4/2025 6:51:00 PM.

According to the National Centre for Seismology (NCS), an earthquake of magnitude 5.8 hit Afghanistan at 10.26 PM on Thursday. It is reported that the earthquake tremors were felt in Pakistan and several parts of India, including Delhi, NCR
...(more)

Estimated casualties (PAGER)

USGS estimates the number of casualties for each earthquake for the Prompt Assessment of Global Earthquakes for Response (PAGER) product.
The graph shows the current fatalities estimate.

Exposed population

Data, images, links, services and documents

For this events, GDACS has links to information from the following sources: EC-JRC (48), (3), NEIC (4), OCHA (1), INGV (1), USGS (5), WMO (1), INFORM (2),