Another earthquake in the Hindu Kush region in Afghanistan shook northern India, including Delhi and its adjoining areas, on Saturday evening. However, like in previous instances, no damage was caused.

The earthquake of magnitude 5.8 was centred around Jurm in northeastern Afghanistan, the same place which had given rise to a 6.6 magnitude earthquake on March 21 which, too, was felt quite strongly in most of northern India.

Just like the previous time, Saturday’s earthquake also originated deep below the earth’s surface, thereby severely reducing its ability to cause damage in far away locations, like in India.

Saturday’s earthquake originated more than 200 km below the earth’s surface, according to the United States Geological Survey (USGS) website. The March 21 earthquake had originated 187 km below the surface.

Deep earthquakes, if they are sufficiently strong, can be felt over very large distances, because the tremors spread out radially from the point of origin. As it travels a larger distance to reach the surface, the radial spread also becomes very large. Jurm area in Afghanistan is more than 1,000 km from Delhi, as the crow flies.

But deep earthquakes also have a lower potential to cause damage because they dissipate a substantial part of their energy by the time they emerge on the surface.

Northeastern Afghanistan, near the border with Tajikistan and Pakistan, is an earthquake prone area, and routinely experiences quakes of magnitude 6 or above. Just on Saturday, this area experienced five quakes of magnitude 4 and above. If these quakes originate deep below the earth’s surface, their tremors are also felt over northern India