Afghanistan earthquake vs atomic bomb: The strength of the tremors will shock you

Another massive earthquake was reported in Afghanistan which, according to seismologists, was measured at 5.9 magnitudes on the Richter scale.

The earthquake's epicentre was traced to the Hindu Kush region in the country at a depth of roughly 200 km. According to the National Centre of Seismology (NCS), the first jolt was felt at around 7:55 pm around 79 km south of Afghanistan's Fayzabad and its shock waves reached cities like Srinagar and Chandigarh in India. The German Research Centre for Geosciences (GFZ) even estimated the amount of energy that was produced by the shock waves. 

Scientists reveal shocking scale of the earthquake

According to the estimates of scientists at GFZ, the earthquake in Afghanistan produced energy equivalent to 5351 tons of explosive TNT. The shock waves were also equivalent to 0.3 times the energy produced after the detonation of an atomic bomb.

The atomic bombs codenamed 'Little Boy' and 'Fat Man' for instance, which were dropped in Japanese towns Hiroshima and Nagasaki during World War II produced energy equivalent to 15,000 tons and 21,000 tons of TNT on explosion. For a much-clear idea of the strength of the earthquake, it produced about 6.3 gigawatt hours of energy, which is enough to power 4.5 million average-sized houses. 

The tremors of the earthquake was so strong that the tremors were felt in Jammu and Kashmir and Uttarakhand along with other countries such as Tajikistan and Pakistan. Prior to this, an earthquake was reported in northern India on January 1. The NCS reported that tremors of magnitude 3.8 were felt in the Delhi-NCR region and its epicentre was in Haryana's Jhajjar, where the earthquake originated from a depth of 5 km.  

So far, no reports of casualties have been reported from Afghanistan or any other regions in India. Afghanistan, however, has been subjected to deadly earthquakes in the past, with the recent one in mid-2022 killing thousands of people in the country. In July last year, the country was struck with a 5.9 magnitude earthquake which turned out to be the most deadly as it killed over 1,000 Afghanis. According to International Rescue Community, thousands more were injured and at least 1,800 houses were destroyed.