South Asia Earthquakes

No M1.5+ South Asia earthquakes have been recorded in the past 24 hours.

Following Earthquakes Across South Asia

This page shows the latest available earthquakes across Afghanistan, India, Pakistan, Nepal and Bangladesh. Together, these countries contain parts of the Himalayas, the Hindu Kush, the Indo-Burman ranges, the Makran coast and several active fault systems within the Indian Plate.

The map displays earthquakes of magnitude 1.5 and above when they are available in the international earthquake catalogue. It updates when the page loads or is refreshed and uses the same regional dataset as the earthquake list, statistics and significant-earthquake section.

Each coloured circle represents a reported earthquake. Select a marker to see its magnitude, location, UTC time and depth. The map controls allow you to compare earthquakes recorded during the last hour, 24 hours, 7 days or 30 days.

South Asia earthquakes (map loads with JavaScript).

Regional coverage: This map covers Afghanistan, India, Pakistan, Nepal and Bangladesh, together with nearby border areas and surrounding waters. The Hindu Kush remains available as a separate specialist map, so earthquakes in northeastern Afghanistan and northern Pakistan may appear on both pages. Iran, China, Tibet, Myanmar, Bhutan, Sri Lanka and the Maldives are excluded from this map.

A Region Compressed From More Than One Direction

The broad earthquake pattern across South Asia begins with the Indian Plate moving northward into Eurasia. This collision built the Himalayas, but its effects are not restricted to one line on a map. The crust is being shortened and fractured from Afghanistan and Pakistan through Nepal, northern India and northeastern India.

In the west, deformation spreads across Afghanistan and Pakistan through the Hindu Kush, the Chaman Fault system and the ranges of Balochistan. In the east, the plate boundary bends toward the Indo-Burman ranges, where movement affects northeastern India and Bangladesh. Offshore Pakistan, the Arabian Plate descends beneath Eurasia along the Makran Subduction Zone.

Earthquakes also occur well inside the Indian Plate. The 2001 Bhuj earthquake in Gujarat demonstrated that old faults within continental crust can reactivate far from the present Himalayan plate boundary.

The Fault Systems Behind the Dots

• Main Himalayan Thrust: The enormous, gently sloping fault beneath the Himalayas accommodates much of the collision between India and Eurasia. It is the principal source of major earthquakes in Nepal and the adjoining Himalayan regions of India.
• Hindu Kush: Northeastern Afghanistan and northern Pakistan experience unusually deep earthquakes within deformed plate material beneath the mountains. These events can be felt across several countries.
• Chaman Fault system: A predominantly strike-slip fault zone running through Afghanistan and western Pakistan. It helps accommodate movement between the Indian Plate and neighbouring crustal blocks.
• Western Afghanistan: The faults around Herat differ from the deep Hindu Kush sources. The destructive 2023 Herat earthquakes were shallow thrust events, showing why Afghanistan cannot be understood solely through its deep mountain earthquakes.
• Kashmir and the northwestern Himalayas: An intensely deformed zone affecting northern Pakistan and India. The region produced the devastating 2005 Kashmir earthquake.
• Shillong Plateau and Dauki Fault: Important earthquake sources for northeastern India and northern Bangladesh. An AGU study of the 1897 Assam earthquake found that the Shillong Plateau is capable of producing extremely large earthquakes.
• Indo-Burman margin: A complicated boundary affecting eastern Bangladesh and the Indian states of Assam, Manipur, Mizoram, Nagaland and Tripura.
• Kachchh region: An intraplate fault region in Gujarat where old structures within the Indian Plate remain capable of producing destructive earthquakes.
• Makran Subduction Zone: An offshore plate boundary extending along Pakistan and Iran. Its earthquakes can generate tsunamis in the Arabian Sea.

Why Afghanistan Adds More Than the Hindu Kush

Afghanistan is often associated with deep Hindu Kush earthquakes, but that is only part of its seismic story. Deep earthquakes beneath Badakhshan can be felt across Afghanistan, Pakistan, Tajikistan and northern India while causing less concentrated shaking immediately above their source.

Eastern Afghanistan can also experience shallow earthquakes close to rural mountain communities. Homes built from stone, mud brick and timber may have little resistance to lateral shaking, while steep slopes and narrow roads make damaged villages difficult to reach.

Western Afghanistan belongs to another fault environment. The 2023 Herat earthquake sequence consisted of repeated shallow magnitude 6.3 earthquakes rather than the very deep events typical of Badakhshan. Keeping Afghanistan within this broader map therefore adds earthquake activity that would not be represented accurately by the Hindu Kush page alone.

Earthquakes That Reshaped South Asia

• 2025 eastern Afghanistan earthquake (M6.0): On 31 August, a shallow earthquake struck Kunar and neighbouring provinces in mountainous eastern Afghanistan. More than 2,200 people died, nearly 3,700 were injured and at least 6,700 homes were destroyed. Entire villages were devastated, while landslides and difficult terrain delayed assistance to isolated communities. UNDP documents the earthquake’s human and physical impact.
• 2023 Herat earthquakes, Afghanistan: Several magnitude 6.3 earthquakes struck western Afghanistan during October. Entire villages were destroyed, and the repeated earthquakes left communities exposed as colder weather approached. The UN Development Programme documented the destruction and recovery needs.
• 2015 Gorkha earthquake, Nepal: The magnitude 7.8 earthquake and its major aftershocks devastated communities across Nepal, caused widespread landslides and severely damaged cultural sites in the Kathmandu Valley. The World Health Organization records more than 9,000 deaths and extensive damage to health facilities.
• 2005 Kashmir earthquake: The magnitude 7.6 earthquake caused catastrophic destruction across northern Pakistan and Pakistan-administered Kashmir. Mountain landslides, vulnerable construction and difficult access intensified the disaster. An International Federation report preserved by ReliefWeb describes the long recovery.
• 2001 Bhuj earthquake, India: This magnitude 7.7 intraplate earthquake devastated the Kachchh region of Gujarat. NASA’s Earth Observatory review describes the destruction and the extensive liquefaction visible in satellite imagery.
• 1950 Assam–Tibet earthquake: One of the largest instrumentally recorded continental earthquakes struck near the eastern end of the Himalayas. It triggered enormous landslides, altered rivers and caused destructive flooding. The Berkeley Seismology Lab discusses its estimated magnitude of 8.6.
• 1945 Makran earthquake and tsunami: A magnitude 8.1 earthquake beneath the Arabian Sea generated a destructive tsunami along the coast of present-day Pakistan. The UNESCO-IOC account preserves survivor memories and the history of the event.
• 1934 Bihar–Nepal earthquake: This great Himalayan earthquake devastated parts of eastern Nepal and northern Bihar. Modern research continues to examine its long rupture and the way rupture direction influenced severe shaking. See the Geophysical Journal International study.
• 1897 Assam–Shillong earthquake: This approximately magnitude 8.2 earthquake caused widespread destruction across northeastern India and affected areas now within Bangladesh. Geological research links it to rupture beneath the Shillong Plateau rather than the central Himalayan arc.

Where Shaking Becomes a Wider Disaster

Magnitude measures the size of an earthquake, but it cannot describe the danger in every community. A shallow magnitude 6 earthquake beneath poorly reinforced villages can be more destructive locally than a considerably larger but very deep Hindu Kush earthquake.

Across the Himalayas and Afghanistan, steep slopes create an additional danger. Shaking can trigger landslides, rockfalls and avalanches that bury homes, block rivers and cut the few roads leading into mountain communities. Aftershocks and heavy rainfall can reactivate slopes that were weakened during the original earthquake.

The Ganges, Brahmaputra and Indus plains contain deep sediment and water-saturated ground. These conditions can amplify shaking and, in some locations, produce liquefaction. Dense development, older masonry and limited open space add to the risk in cities such as Kathmandu, Dhaka, Delhi, Islamabad and parts of the Kashmir region.

The Arabian Sea Is Part of the Hazard

Pakistan’s coast faces tsunami risk from the Makran Subduction Zone. An offshore earthquake capable of lifting or lowering the seabed can send waves toward Pakistan, Iran, India, Oman and other Arabian Sea coastlines.

Not every offshore earthquake generates a tsunami. Magnitude, depth, fault movement and seafloor displacement all matter. Coastal residents who experience strong or prolonged shaking should move inland or to higher ground and follow local warnings rather than waiting for the earthquake map to update.

Who Measures South Asia’s Earthquakes?

The international catalogue provides a consistent dataset for the map, but national and regional agencies may detect additional small earthquakes or publish revised locations, depths and magnitudes.

• India: The National Centre for Seismology monitors earthquakes through the Ministry of Earth Sciences.
• Nepal: The National Earthquake Monitoring and Research Center operates Nepal’s seismic monitoring network.
• Bangladesh: The Bangladesh Meteorological Department provides national seismic monitoring.
• Pakistan: The National Seismic Monitoring Centre is operated by the Pakistan Meteorological Department.
• Afghanistan: Afghan authorities provide disaster information, while earthquake parameters are frequently supplemented by international networks such as EMSC and the GFZ GEOFON network. United Nations agencies often provide verified information about humanitarian effects.

Why One Earthquake Can Have More Than One Magnitude

Different agencies can publish different magnitudes for the same earthquake without either report necessarily being wrong. They may use different seismic stations, magnitude scales, automatic calculations or models of how waves travel through the crust.

The June 27, 2026 Hindu Kush earthquake is a useful example. Pakistan’s monitoring agency reported magnitude 5.9, while the international catalogue calculated magnitude 6.1. India’s National Centre for Seismology reported another slightly different value. Deep earthquakes are particularly challenging because their waves travel through complicated plate structures before reaching monitoring stations across several countries.

Locations and depths may also change as additional station data become available. Preliminary automatic results are useful for rapid alerts, while later reviewed solutions are normally better for studying the earthquake itself.

🗺️ Related Earthquake Maps

Specialist and neighbouring regions:
Hindu Kush Earthquakes | Iran Earthquakes | China Earthquakes

View the broader continent:
Asia Earthquakes