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Why is Afghanistan so prone to earthquakes?

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Why is Afghanistan so prone to earthquakes?


Afghan men walk on the rubble of a damaged house following a deadly magnitude-6 earthquake that struck Afghanistan on Sunday, in Mazar Dara, Kunar province, Afghanistan, September 2, 2025. — Reuters
Afghan men walk on the rubble of a damaged house following a deadly magnitude-6 earthquake that struck Afghanistan on Sunday, in Mazar Dara, Kunar province, Afghanistan, September 2, 2025. — Reuters 

A 6.3-magnitude earthquake struck near the northern Afghan city of Mazar-e Sharif early on Monday, killing at least 10 people and injuring about 150, just months after a quake and strong aftershocks killed more than 2,200 people at the end of August.

Here is a look at why the war-shattered South Asian country experiences frequent tremors, and how their impact can be reduced:

Are earthquakes common in Afghanistan?

Hemmed in by rugged mountains, Afghanistan is prone to a range of natural disasters, but its earthquakes cause the most fatalities, killing about 560 people on average each year and causing annual damages estimated at $80 million.

Studies indicate at least 355 earthquakes with a magnitude higher than 5.0 have hit Afghanistan since 1990.

Why is Afghanistan prone to tremors?

Afghanistan is located on the edge of the Eurasian tectonic plate, which shares a transgression zone with the Indian plate — implying the two may converge or brush past each other — and is also influenced by the Arabian plate to its south, creating one of the world’s most tectonically active regions.

The northward movement of the Indian plate and its thrust against the Eurasian plate is usually responsible for Afghanistan’s numerous quakes.

Which areas are vulnerable?

Eastern and northeastern Afghanistan, especially regions along its borders with Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, and Pakistan, are particularly prone to earthquakes.

This includes heavily populated Kabul, which has the highest average estimated damage due to earthquakes, amounting to $17 million every year, according to a study.

Earthquakes are also particularly dangerous in Afghanistan’s mountains where they can trigger landslides, exacerbating loss of life and property.

Which were Afghanistan’s worst earthquakes?

Afghanistan has recorded around 100 “damaging” earthquakes since 1900.

Among the worst in recent years was a magnitude 6 quake in 2022 that killed 1,000 people. Multiple quakes in one month in 2023 together killed 1,000 people and destroyed entire villages.

One of Afghanistan’s largest earthquakes, with a magnitude of 7.5, struck in 2015, killing 399 people in Afghanistan, Pakistan and India.

Some of the greatest devastation was seen in 1998 as two earthquakes shook Afghanistan within three months – the first killing 2,300 people and the second 4,700.

How can the country build resilience?

Studies recommend new structures be built in an earthquake-resistant way and existing buildings be retrofitted to reduce chances of collapse.

Better monitoring and early warning systems must also be created for more timely alerts, while fault lines should be mapped using geospatial and remote sensing technologies to enable relocation of people in vulnerable areas, they suggest.





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White House briefly locked down after Secret Service shooting in Washington

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White House briefly locked down after Secret Service shooting in Washington


FBI agents walk outside the residence associated with Cole Tomas Allen, the suspect in the shooting incident at the annual White House Correspondents Association dinner in Washington, DC, in Torrance, California, US, April 25, 2026.— Reuters
FBI agents walk outside the residence associated with Cole Tomas Allen, the suspect in the shooting incident at the annual White House Correspondents’ Association dinner in Washington, DC, in Torrance, California, US, April 25, 2026.— Reuters

The US Secret Service said on Monday it was on the scene of an officer-involved shooting in Washington in which one person was shot by law enforcement.

“US Secret Service personnel are on the scene of an officer-involved shooting at 15th Street and Independence Avenue in Washington, D.C. One individual was shot by law enforcement; their condition is currently unknown,” the Secret Service said in a statement on X. The White House was briefly locked down on Monday afternoon.

The DC Police Department said police were on the scene of the probe.

“The scene is secure. Avoid the area as roads will be closed for several hours,” police said in a statement.

Law enforcement agents have been on alert in recent days in the US capital following a shooting at the White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner late last month, over which a suspect has been arrested.


This is a developing story, and it is being updated with new developments.





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UAE says air defences engage Iranian missiles, drones as flights diverted

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UAE says air defences engage Iranian missiles, drones as flights diverted


Smoke rises in the Fujairah oil industry zone, caused by debris after interception of a drone by air defenses, according to the Fujairah media office, amid the U.S.-Israel conflict with Iran, in Fujairah, United Arab Emirates, March 14, 2026. — Reuters
Smoke rises in the Fujairah oil industry zone, caused by debris after interception of a drone by air defenses, according to the Fujairah media office, amid the U.S.-Israel conflict with Iran, in Fujairah, United Arab Emirates, March 14, 2026. — Reuters
  • Iran denied targeting UAE.
  • Attacks disrupt inbound UAE flights.
  • Attacks injure three, reignite ME tensions.

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) said its air defences were engaging missile and drone threats on Monday evening as firefighters battled a blaze at a major oil industry zone following a drone attack which authorities said had originated from Iran.

The Gulf Arab state’s foreign ministry said in a statement that the attacks marked a serious escalation and posed a direct threat to the country’s security, adding that the UAE reserved its “full and legitimate right” to respond.

Multiple flights bound for the UAE diverted to Muscat in Oman, while other inbound aircraft circled over Saudi Arabia, according to flight tracking service Flightradar24, as the attacks caused widespread disruption to air traffic.

Iranian state media, citing a senior military official, said Iran had no plan to target the UAE, whose defence ministry said earlier on X that it had intercepted three Iranian missiles over its territorial waters and a fourth crashed into the sea.

The drone attacks shattered a period of relative calm in the region since a Pakistani-mediated ceasefire between Washington and Tehran took effect on April 8, pausing more than a month of intense fighting in the Gulf region.

Civil defence teams were deployed immediately to contain the blaze at the Fujairah Oil Industry Zone, the Fujairah Media Office said in a statement, adding that three Indian citizens were moderately injured in the attack and taken to hospital.

By Monday evening, the ministry said air defence systems were actively engaging further missile and drone threats.

“All airports in the UAE are closed for the time (being),” the captain on one inbound flight to Dubai told passengers, adding that aircraft would be diverted to the Omani capital.

Iran’s Revolutionary Guards Navy issued a map it said showed an expansion of areas under Iranian control near the Strait of Hormuz, encompassing the UAE ports of Fujairah and Khorfakkan as well as the coast of the Umm Al Quwain emirate, Iranian news agencies reported.

During the period of intense conflict earlier this spring, the UAE said it had intercepted and destroyed thousands of drones and missiles.

UAE authorities on Monday issued mobile phone alerts in Dubai and Abu Dhabi warning of the possibility of missile attacks.

Monday’s strike was not the first time Fujairah’s energy infrastructure had been targeted. A drone attack on March 14 had previously hit the Port of Fujairah, triggering fires and the suspension of some oil-loading operations.

Fujairah has been critical to UAE oil exports during the Iran war as it sits at the end of the Abu Dhabi Crude Oil Pipeline, which carries crude from inland fields to the Gulf of Oman, bypassing the Strait of Hormuz.

This has allowed the UAE to continue shipping oil to global markets even as the waterway remained under threat.





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Iran says it forced US warship back from Strait of Hormuz

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Iran says it forced US warship back from Strait of Hormuz



Iran said it had forced a US warship to turn back from entering the Strait of Hormuz on Monday, although US Central Command quickly denied a report of a missile strike.

A senior Iranian official told Reuters Iran had fired a warning shot and that it was unclear whether the warship had been damaged.

Oil prices jumped 5% on renewed concerns that the vital oil route, already shut for over two months at huge cost to the global economy, would remain blocked for considerably longer, with little sign of progress towards a negotiated resolution of Washington’s conflict with Iran.

Iran’s navy said it had prevented “American-Zionist” warships from entering the Strait area by issuing a “swift and decisive warning”.

Iran’s semi-official Fars news agency said two missiles had hit the warship near the port of Jask at the southern entrance to the strait, but Centcom denied that any warship had been struck.

It said its forces were supporting President Donald Trump’s “Project Freedom”, which aims to “guide out” commercial ships stranded in the Gulf by the US-Israeli war on Iran, and were enforcing a blockade of Iranian ports.

Trump gave few details of his plan to aid ships and their crews who have been confined to the vital waterway and are running low on food and other supplies. Shipping companies gave no sign of being ready to resume sailings.

“We have told these Countries that we will guide their Ships safely out of these restricted Waterways, so that they can freely and ably get on with their business,” Trump said in a post on his Truth Social site on Sunday.

Iranian military’s warning

In response to Trump’s announcement, Iran’s unified command told commercial ships and oil tankers to refrain from any movement that was not coordinated with Iran’s military.

“We have repeatedly said the security of the Strait of Hormuz is in our hands and that the safe passage of vessels needs to be coordinated with the armed forces,” Ali Abdollahi, head of the forces’ unified command, said in the statement.

“We warn that any foreign armed forces, especially the aggressive US Army, will be attacked if they intend to approach and enter the Strait of Hormuz.”

Iran has blocked nearly all shipping into and out of the Gulf apart from its own since the start of the war, cutting off around a fifth of the world’s oil and gas shipments and sending oil prices soaring by 50% or more.

Centcom said it would support Trump’s “Project Freedom” with 15,000 military personnel and more than 100 land- and sea-based aircraft, plus warships and drones.

“Our support for this defensive mission is essential to regional security and the global economy as we also maintain the naval blockade,” Admiral Brad Cooper, the Centcom commander, said in a statement.

‘Convoys not a solution’
Hundreds of commercial vessels and as many as 20,000 seafarers have been unable to transit the strait during the conflict, the International Maritime Organisation says.

Container shipping group Hapag-Lloyd said on Monday its risk assessment was unchanged and that transit through the strait was still not possible.

Numerous executives from the shipping and oil industries have said they need an end to hostilities and some form of peace deal because military convoys alone are not enough to allow normal traffic to resume safely.

The United Arab Emirates accused Iran of attacking an empty crude oil tanker belonging to the Abu Dhabi state oil firm ADNOC with drones as it attempted to pass through the strait.

In a rare piece of good news, Pakistan said the US had handed over 22 crew from an Iranian container vessel that American forces had seized last month.

Islamabad, which has been trying to broker a peace deal, described the US move as a “confidence-building measure”.

The Trump administration has been seeking help from other countries to secure shipping in the Strait. Centcom said the latest effort announced by Trump would combine “diplomatic action with military coordination”.

It was not immediately clear which countries the US operation would aid or how the operation would work. It will not necessarily include US Navy ships escorting commercial ships, Axios reporter Barak Ravid said in a post on X.

The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Trump said any interference with the US operation would have to be “dealt with forcefully”.

Iran reviews US response to peace proposal

The United States and Israel suspended their bombing campaign against Iran four weeks ago, and US and Iranian officials held one round of face-to-face talks. But attempts to set up further meetings have failed.

Iranian state media said on Sunday Washington had conveyed its response to a 14-point Iranian proposal via Pakistan, and that Tehran was now reviewing it. Neither side gave details.

A senior Iranian official has confirmed that Tehran envisages ending the war on all fronts — including Israel’s attacks on Lebanon — and resolving the shipping standoff first, while leaving talks on Iran’s nuclear programme for later.

Washington wants Tehran to give up its stockpile of more than 400kg (900 pounds) of highly enriched uranium, which the United States says could power a bomb.

Iran says its nuclear programme is peaceful, although it is willing to discuss some curbs in return for the lifting of sanctions. It had accepted such curbs in a 2015 deal that Trump abandoned.

Trump is under pressure to break Iran’s hold on the Strait of Hormuz to try to prevent soaring gasoline prices, causing a voter backlash against his Republican Party in midterm congressional elections in November.



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