M4.6 earthquake 12 km W of Ashkāsham, Badakhshan, Afghanistan
A magnitude 4.6 earthquake struck 12 km W of Ashkāsham, Badakhshan, Afghanistan at 14:37 local time (10:07 UTC) on 22 Oct 2026, at a depth of 175 km, according to USGS and GFZ.
Reported by 2 agencies
Data: USGS, GFZ · updated 2026-10-22 10:24 UTC · reviewed
- Magnitude
- 4.6light
body-wave magnitude (mb) - Depth
- 174.5 km
- Status
- Reviewed
- Origin time
- 2026-10-22 10:07:41 UTC
- Local: 22 Oct 2026, 14:37:41 (Asia/Kabul)
- Epicentre
- 36.677° N, 71.400° E
Circles show this event and others within 30 km from 7 days before to 30 days after. Lines: plate boundaries and GEM active faults. Open on the live map
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Est. shaking |
|---|---|---|
| AshkāshamBadakhshan, Afghanistan · pop. 12,120 | 12 km | IIWeak |
| IshqoshimGorno-Badakhshan, Tajikistan · pop. 26,000 | 19 km | IIWeak |
| JurmBadakhshan, Afghanistan · pop. 23,064 | 55 km | INot felt |
| BahārakBadakhshan, Afghanistan · pop. 32,551 | 56 km | INot felt |
| FayzabadBadakhshan, Afghanistan · pop. 44,421 | 88 km | INot felt |
| MingoraKhyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan · pop. 361,112 | 228 km | INot felt |
| JalālābādNangarhar, Afghanistan · pop. 271,900 | 264 km | INot felt |
| BattagramKhyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan · pop. 700,000 | 266 km | INot felt |
Shaking is an estimate from the intensity prediction equation of Allen, Wald & Worden (2012), not an observation. Local ground and buildings can change it by a level or more.
Every agency's solution
Agencies locate earthquakes with their own stations and methods, so their numbers differ. We match reports of the same event by time, distance and magnitude and show them side by side. The headline uses USGS, which has been reviewed by an analyst.
How big was it?
Widely felt near the epicentre: rattling windows and objects. Significant damage is unlikely.
It released roughly the energy of 120 t of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step means about 32 times more energy and 10 times larger waves on a seismogram. Depth matters too: at 175 km this was a intermediate-depth earthquake, which spreads shaking over a wider area but less intensely.
M4.6 releases about 32× the energy of M3.6, and its waves are about 10× taller on a seismogram. Energy: 120 t of TNT vs 3.8 t of TNT.
Each square is the energy of one M3.6. Energy from log₁₀E = 1.5M + 4.8.
Aftershocks and nearby activity
2 later earthquakes within 30 km; the largest was M4.4 16 days ago. 1 in the 7 days before. Aftershock rates usually fall off roughly in proportion to 1/time.
Mainshock M4.6
2 later earthquakes nearby. Aftershock rates typically fall off roughly as 1/time (Omori's law).
| Time after mainshock (hours) | Magnitude | Depth (km) |
|---|---|---|
| 125.82 | 4.4 | 124 |
| 146.43 | 4.2 | 214 |
Did you feel it?
Reports from people help show where shaking was strong. They are anonymous and shown here in aggregate.
Reports close 14 days after an earthquake.
Reports on SeismoAtlas
No reports yet.
Event id gfz2026urxy. First recorded here 22 Oct 2026, 10:17:12 UTC. Solutions: GFZ (geofon:gfz2026urxy); USGS (usgs:us6000u42e). Cite as: SeismoAtlas, “M4.6 earthquake 12 km W of Ashkāsham, Badakhshan, Afghanistan”, https://seismoatlas.com/earthquake/gfz2026urxy-m4-6-earthquake-12-km-w-of-ashkasham-badakhshan-afghanistan, data from USGS, GFZ.
JSON: /api/v1/events/gfz2026urxy. SeismoAtlas is not an official warning service.