Mppsc current affairs

🔆 Why Earthquakes Occur & Why Afghanistan is So Vulnerable

📍 Recent Quake
✅ A 6.0 magnitude earthquake struck northeast Afghanistan (Nangarhar province, depth 8 km), killing 800+ people and injuring 2000+.
✅ Afghanistan faced 3 major quakes in 2023 (1,300 deaths) & a 5.9 quake in 2022 (1,300 deaths).

📍 Causes of Earthquakes
✅ Occur when two blocks of Earth slip past each other, releasing elastic strain energy as seismic waves.
✅ Earth’s crust: made of tectonic plates, colliding or sliding past one another → creates faults & slips.
✅ Key terms:
• Hypocenter → point inside Earth where quake starts.
• Epicenter → point directly above hypocenter on surface.

📍 Depth & Magnitude
✅ Shallow quakes (<70 km) more dangerous as energy reaches surface quickly.
✅ Magnitude vs Strength: Magnitude = size of seismic waves; Strength = energy carried.
✅ Magnitude 6 quake = 10x amplitude & 32x energy of magnitude 5.

📍 Afghanistan’s Vulnerability
✅ Lies at collision zone of Indian & Eurasian plates → highly active seismic region.
✅ India moving towards Eurasia at 45 mm/year → releases ~15% of global seismic energy annually.
✅ Hindu Kush: recorded 12 quakes >7 magnitude since 1900.

🔎 Prelims Q
Q. The Hindu Kush region is highly earthquake-prone because it lies at the junction of which tectonic plates?
a) Indian & African
b) Indian & Eurasian
c) Eurasian & Pacific
d) Arabian & African
➡️ Ans: b) Indian & Eurasian



✍️ Mains Q
Explain why Afghanistan is among the most earthquake-prone regions of the world. How does tectonic plate movement make it vulnerable? (10M/150W)

#Geography #UPSC

www.tgoop.com/mppsc_current/14171

1.21K viewsSep 3 at 08:42

🔆 Why Earthquakes Occur & Why Afghanistan is So Vulnerable

📍 Recent Quake
✅ A 6.0 magnitude earthquake struck northeast Afghanistan (Nangarhar province, depth 8 km), killing 800+ people and injuring 2000+.
✅ Afghanistan faced 3 major quakes in 2023 (1,300 deaths) & a 5.9 quake in 2022 (1,300 deaths).

📍 Causes of Earthquakes
✅ Occur when two blocks of Earth slip past each other, releasing elastic strain energy as seismic waves.
✅ Earth’s crust: made of tectonic plates, colliding or sliding past one another → creates faults & slips.
✅ Key terms:
• Hypocenter → point inside Earth where quake starts.
• Epicenter → point directly above hypocenter on surface.

📍 Depth & Magnitude
✅ Shallow quakes (<70 km) more dangerous as energy reaches surface quickly.
✅ Magnitude vs Strength: Magnitude = size of seismic waves; Strength = energy carried.
✅ Magnitude 6 quake = 10x amplitude & 32x energy of magnitude 5.

📍 Afghanistan’s Vulnerability
✅ Lies at collision zone of Indian & Eurasian plates → highly active seismic region.
✅ India moving towards Eurasia at 45 mm/year → releases ~15% of global seismic energy annually.
✅ Hindu Kush: recorded 12 quakes >7 magnitude since 1900.

🔎 Prelims Q
Q. The Hindu Kush region is highly earthquake-prone because it lies at the junction of which tectonic plates?
a) Indian & African
b) Indian & Eurasian
c) Eurasian & Pacific
d) Arabian & African
➡️ Ans: b) Indian & Eurasian

✍️ Mains Q
Explain why Afghanistan is among the most earthquake-prone regions of the world. How does tectonic plate movement make it vulnerable? (10M/150W)

BY Mppsc current affairs