Afghanistan earthquake’s deep center reduced fatalities
OCT 28, 2015
DOI: 10.1063/PT.5.029327
New Scientist : On Monday, a magnitude 7.5 earthquake struck in northeast Afghanistan, near the border with Pakistan. Despite the number of heavily populated areas in the region, the death toll has been relatively low—fewer than 400 people have been reported to have died so far, most of them in more remote areas. That is significantly fewer than the number killed by the magnitude 7.8 earthquake that struck Nepal earlier this year. The US Geological Survey says that the low death toll is likely due to the depth of the quake, which originated some 200 km below the surface; the source of the more deadly Nepal quake was only 8 km down.
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