Strong tremors were felt across Delhi, Jammu and Kashmir, and several other parts of northern India on Saturday evening after a powerful earthquake struck Afghanistan’s seismically active Hindu Kush region.
India’s National Centre for Seismology said the earthquake measured magnitude 6.2 and occurred at 7:04 p.m. IST. The agency placed the epicenter in Afghanistan at a depth of 215 kilometers, a relatively deep origin that likely helped the shaking travel across a wide area.
The tremors were reported in Delhi-NCR, Jammu and Kashmir, parts of Himachal Pradesh, Chandigarh, and other northern areas. Residents in some places rushed out of homes and buildings as a precaution, but Indian authorities had not reported any immediate damage or casualties.
The quake was also felt in Afghanistan’s capital, Kabul, and in parts of Pakistan, including Islamabad and areas of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Pakistan-administered Kashmir. Initial assessments from Afghan and Pakistani disaster officials also showed no immediate reports of destruction or deaths linked to the Afghanistan-centered quake.
Seismic agencies gave slightly different measurements for the event, which is common in the first hours after an earthquake. While India’s NCS reported a magnitude 6.2 and a depth of 215 kilometers, the United States Geological Survey placed it at magnitude 6.1, and the European-Mediterranean Seismological Centre reported it at a magnitude 6.0.
The Hindu Kush region frequently generates earthquakes because of the continuing collision and movement of the Indian and Eurasian tectonic plates. Deep and intermediate-depth earthquakes in the area can be felt far from the epicenter, including across Afghanistan, Pakistan, and northern India.
Saturday’s quake came on a day of heightened seismic activity in the region. A separate earthquake earlier struck Pakistan’s Balochistan province, where officials reported injuries and damage to houses in Musakhail district. Authorities in Pakistan sent relief teams and supplies to affected communities.
For residents in northern India, the Afghanistan quake was another reminder of the region’s exposure to distant but widely felt seismic events. Officials advised the public to remain calm, avoid elevators during tremors, move away from unstable structures, and follow updates from official disaster and seismology agencies.
No aftershock advisory affecting India had been issued immediately, but authorities in the region continued monitoring the situation.