Earthquake Risks and Lack of Disaster Management in Afghanistan

Abstract

Afghanistan is in a seismically active area and is historically hit by destructive earthquakes. It is located on the edge of the Eurasian tectonic plate, bordered by the northern boundary of the Indian plate, and with the collisional Arabian plate into the South. The Hindukush and Pamir Mountains within Afghanistan are the western extension of the Himalayan orogeny uplifted and sheared by Indian and Eurasian plate convergence. These tectonic activities have created several active deep faults across the country and in the Hindukush-Himalayan region, where high-magnitude earthquakes have historically occurred. Earthquakes in Afghanistan are primarily driven by the relative northward movements of the Arabian plate past western Afghanistan and the Indian plate past eastern Afghanistan as both plates subduct under the Eurasian plate. These tectonic movements caused ground shaking from high to moderate and low from the northeast through the southwest of the country. On June 22, 2022, southeastern part of Afghanistan was hit by a destructive Mw6.2 earthquake. The purpose of this study is to develop an ArcGIS Pro database of compiled geologic faults and regions of heightened seismicity for spatial analyses of earthquake disaster severity across Afghanistan. These spatial analyses place better constraints on the placement of active and historic seismicity along mapped and known active faults for progress in earthquake disaster management. Furthermore, we define current hazards associated with building and infrastructural design and competency given the recurrent and eminent seismicity within Afghanistan and describe possible directions and solutions to mitigate the threat to life and property.