THE HINDU KUSH EARTHQUAKE on October 26, 2015 with Mw=7.5, I0~7: PRELIMINARY SEISMICITY and AFTERSHOCK SEQUENCE

Abstract

On October 26, 2015, a strong Hindu Kush earthquake with KR=17.0, Mw=7.5 occurred in the Afghan Pamir-Hindu Kush subzone at a depth of hpP=217 km. Shakes of varying intensity caused by this earthquake were recorded in settlements of 14 states: Afghanistan, Tajikistan, Pakistan, Turkmenistan, India, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, China, Iran, Nepal, United Arab Emirates, Russia, Qatar and Bangladesh with a total area of S=14106 km2. The earthquake was preceded by three large (KR=12.5, 12.1, 14.0) foreshocks and was accompanied by a series of more than 1400 aftershocks unprecedented for aftershocks of deep earthquakes with KR=9–13. The energy step between the mainshock and the maximum foreshock is Kfor=3.0, between the mainshock and the maximum (KR=12.8) aftershock – Kaft=4.2. The aftershock recurrence graph has a slope =–0.67, which in absolute value is higher than the average value in the region =0.50. The attenuation para-meter  of the Omori law in the initial phase of attenuation, =–1.26, in absolute value is also higher than the average =1.0 for strong earthquakes in the World. Based on the results of a joint analysis of the focal me-chanism solutions of different agencies and vertical sections along and across the aftershock cloud, it was con-cluded that an upthrust movement occurred in the source along a steep east-south-east nodal plane, dipping to the south. The reason for the activity at the site of the earthquake is the movement of the Indian continent to the north and its collision with Eurasia, as a result of which the separation and subduction of the Hindu Kush plate continue. The Hindu Kush earthquake on October 26, 2015, and its aftershocks are just one of the events of successive deformation and stress relief in the latitudinal zone, marked in 2015 by the migration of earthquake epicenters with KR=13–17 from east to west.