M 5.9 in Afghanistan on 21 Jun 2022 20:54 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 1327560
Earthquake Magnitude: 5.9M
Glide number: EQ-2022-000232-AFG
Depth: 10 Km
Lat/Lon: 33.0924 , 69.5135
Event Date: 21 Jun 2022 20:54 UTC
22 Jun 2022 01:24 Local
Exposed Population: About 17000 people in MMI
290 thousand (in MMI>=VII)
Inserted at: 21 Jun 2022 21:52 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 4.1 4.1
us7000hj3u Scaled population (raster) 5.25  
  C1 shakemap -0.59  
  C2 shakemap 0.53  
  Country Vulnerability 0  
  INFORM_normalised 1.29  
Maximum expected impact using different data sources.
Virtual OSOCC
Meteo assessment
Satellite products
Analytical products
Afghanistan - Earthquake (ECHO 22 Jun 2022)Wed, 22 Jun 2022 11:50

  • An earthquake of magnitude 5.9 M at a depth of 10 km occurred in the Spera District (Khost Province, eastern Afghanistan) close to the border with western Pakistan on 21 June at 20.54 UTC (22 June at 1.24 local time). The epicentre was located 47 km south-west of Khost City.
  • USGS PAGER estimated that 7,000 people were exposed to very strong and 119,000 to strong shaking.
  • According to media reports, 920 people have died, over 600 people have been injured and infrastructure was damaged. The most affected province is Paktika Province (south of Khost Province) with at least 200 deaths, but fatalities were also reported in the Provinces of Khost and Nangarhar. The seismic event was also felt in Pakistan and India.
  • International and local organisations are providing rescue and emergency activities. DG ECHO partners (PUI, DACAAR, IRC, CARE) are assessing the situation and started to provide assistance.
  • For the next 24 hours, moderate to heavy rain with thunderstorms is forecast over eastern Afghanistan, including the affected Provinces.
Afghanistan, Pakistan - Earthquake update (ECHO 23 Jun 2022)Thu, 23 Jun 2022 12:29

  • After the 5.9 M earthquake that occurred in the Spera District (Khost Province, eastern Afghanistan) close to the border with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province (north-western Pakistan), the number of casualties has increased. The most affected Provinces are Paktika, Khost, and Nangarhar.
  • In Afghanistan, more than 1,000 people have died, more than 1,500 have been injured and thousands of houses have been destroyed, needs assessment continues today and tomorrow. The most important immediate needs are in the sectors of food, health/trauma, and basic non-food items and emergency shelter.
  • In Pakistan, one person died, and two houses have been damaged in Lakki Marwat District (southern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa), following the seismic event.
  • On 22 June, the Copernicus Emergency Management Service was activated in rapid mapping mode () to support the damage assessment.
  • Furthermore, over the past few days, widespread flash floods triggered by heavy rainfall have affected eight Provinces of northern and eastern Afghanistan (Paktika, Kunar, Laghman, Badakhshan, Baghlan, Takhar, Kunduz, and Faryab), that resulted in at least 11 fatalities, 50 injuries, and 500 destroyed houses.
Afghanistan - Earthquake, update (ECHO 24 Jun 2022)Fri, 24 Jun 2022 11:55

  • The number of deaths stands at more than 1,000 people after the 5.9 M earthquake occurred in Spera District (Khost Province, eastern Afghanistan). At least 1,455 people have been injured across three of the six most affected Districts of Paktika and Khost Provinces: Barmal (1,000), Giyan (393) and Spera (62), as reported by UN OCHA.
  • Humanitarian assistance has been dispatched to the affected areas.  The European Union mobilised EUR 1 million as an initial response through the Acute Large Emergency Response Tool (ALERT). Urgent support is needed on trauma care and emergency shelter/non-food items, as well as water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) and food services. 50% of the population of Paktika and 40% of population of Khost were already facing high levels of food insecurity (IPC3 and above). UN Agencies and INGOs are on the ground, providing assistance.
  • Weather conditions hampered rescue efforts, as heavy rainfall occurred over the hit Provinces. According to the Afghanistan Meteorological Department (AMD), for the next 24 hours, drier conditions are forecast across Khost and Paktika Provinces.
  • On 22 June, the Copernicus Emergency Management Service was activated in rapid mapping mode () to support the damage assessment. Satellite products for nine areas of interest have been published so far. 
M5.9 in Afghanistan - Copernicus EMS activation (EMSR584)Wed, 22 Jun 2022 16:16

EMSR584: Copernicus Emergency Management Service has been activated
Afghanistan - Earthquake, update (ECHO 27 Jun 2022)Mon, 27 Jun 2022 14:02

  • According to the World Health Organization (WHO), after the 5.9 M earthquake occurred on 21 June in Spera District (Khost Province, eastern Afghanistan), 1,039 people have died, 2,949 people have been injured and 4,500 houses have been partially or fully damaged across Paktika and Khost Provinces. The most affected Districts are Giyan, Barmal, and Ziruk Districts in Paktika Province, and Spera in Khost Province.
  • On 24 June, an aftershock of 4.3 M hit the affected area, and at least five persons died while 11 others were injured.
  • Needs assessments are being completed, the final numbers of death and affected are being confirmed. Humanitarian assistance in Paktika and Khost Provinces is continouing. 
  • On 22 June, the Copernicus Emergency Management Service was activated in rapid mapping mode () to support the damage assessment and 19 maps have been published so far. 
Detailed event map. European Union, 2024. 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 in Paktika and Khost Provinces, Afghanistan - Situation Rep.. 6/28/2022 8:01:00 PM.

HIGHLIGHTS A 5.9 magnitude earthquake struck the Southeastern Region of Afghanistan on 22 June 2022. The earthquake has devasted Paktika and Khost provinces. There is no updated figure of causality reported officially since 26 June. A total
...(more)
US Pledges $55 Million in Aid for the Victims of the Deadly Earthquake.. 6/28/2022 6:53:00 PM.

According to the United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s announcement on Tuesday, the United States would provide Afghanistan immediate assistance amounting $55 million in response to the devastating earthquake that struck last we
...(more)
UN Requests for $110 Million to Aid the Quake-Hit in Afghanistan 6/28/2022 6:53:00 PM.

The United Nations announced on Tuesday that it had started an emergency appeal for $110 million to aid hundreds of thousands of people in parts of Afghanistan devastated by last week’s catastrophic earthquake. Homes were destroyed and land
...(more)
U.S. rushing assistance to Afghanistan after quake kills at least 1,00.. 6/28/2022 6:41:00 PM.

The United States will provide almost $55 million in humanitarian assistance to Afghanistan following a devastating earthquake on June 22 that killed at least 1,000 people, injured countless more and destroyed an estimated 10,000 homes. The
...(more)

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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: EMSR (2), UNOSAT (1), EC-JRC (48), (3), NEIC (4), OCHA (1), INGV (1), USGS (5), WMO (1), INFORM (2),