On February 4, 1998, a magnitude ~5.9 earthquake struck northeastern Afghanistan (Takhar Province), at a depth of about 30 km. The disaster caused extreme damage, with reports estimating over 2,300 fatalities and thousands left homeless amid landslides and heavy snow obstructing relief efforts. Villages were destroyed, livestock lost, and remote terrain compounded the difficulty of aid delivery. The quake underscored Afghanistan’s vulnerability to natural disasters and the fragility of infrastructure in wartime and peacetime alike. International and local relief operations had to navigate mountainous terrain and weather conditions to assist survivors.
