Chaman Fault System
Afghanistan / Pakistan · continental transform · 10067.3 km of mapped active fault in 100 traces
background as of 7 November 2026.
consistent with baseline
| Window | the last 30.0 days |
|---|---|
| Earthquakes counted | 0 at M4.5 or above |
| Expected in that window | 0.72 |
What this system normally does
From 1995 to 2025 the catalogue holds 263 earthquakes of M4.5 or larger attributable to this system: about 8.77 a year. That figure is what "elevated" on this page is measured against.
The fault itself
| Mapped length | 10067.3 km |
|---|---|
| Traces | 100 |
| Tectonic setting | continental transform |
| Slip types | Anticline, Reverse, Sinistral-Normal |
| Depth attributed to it | down to 50.0 km |
| Extent | 26.30 to 36.09 latitude, 63.17 to 71.12 longitude |
Recorded history
NOAA's hazard records hold 14 significant earthquakes attributed to this system since 1935.
The deadliest was the 30 May 1935 magnitude 7.5 earthquake (Pakistan: Quetta), which killed 60,000 people.
The most recent entry is the 6 October 2021 magnitude 5.9 earthquake (Pakistan: Balochistan Province), which killed 42 people.
Across the entries that record a death toll, 60,342 people died.
| Date | What | Where | Toll |
|---|---|---|---|
| 30 May 1935 | magnitude 7.5 earthquake | Pakistan: Quetta | 60,000 dead, $25 million damage |
| 28 October 2008 | magnitude 6.4 earthquake | Pakistan: Quetta | 215 dead, 3,487 homes destroyed, damage over $25 million |
| 27 February 1997 | magnitude 7.1 earthquake | Pakistan: Harnai-sibi, Quetta | 60 dead, 500 homes destroyed, damage $1 to 5 million |
| 6 October 2021 | magnitude 5.9 earthquake | Pakistan: Balochistan Province | 42 dead, damage $1 to 5 million |
| 4 March 1990 | magnitude 6.1 earthquake | Pakistan: Kalat, Quetta, Mastung | 11 dead, $1 million damage |
| 20 May 1992 | magnitude 6.0 earthquake | Pakistan: Peshawar, Kohat, Shakkar Khel | 6 dead, 400 homes destroyed, damage $1 to 5 million |
| 12 December 1981 | magnitude 4.0 earthquake | Pakistan: Central | 6 dead, 45 homes destroyed, damage $1 to 5 million |
| 16 March 1978 | magnitude 5.9 earthquake | Pakistan: Quetta, Nushki | 1 dead, damage $1 to 5 million |
| 8 May 2004 | magnitude 4.5 earthquake | Pakistan: Quetta | 1 dead, damage under $1 million |
| 29 October 2008 | magnitude 6.4 earthquake | Pakistan: Ziarat | damage $1 to 5 million |
| 15 May 1986 | magnitude 5.2 earthquake | Pakistan: Barkham, Matakari, Hamtarot | damage $5 to 25 million |
| 8 November 1991 | magnitude 5.0 earthquake | India: Jodhpur, Jaisalmer | damage under $1 million |
| 12 November 2010 | magnitude 4.7 earthquake | Pakistan: Quetta | damage under $1 million |
| 6 August 1983 | magnitude 4.2 earthquake | Pakistan: Ziarat | 25 homes destroyed, damage $1 to 5 million |
A dash means NOAA recorded no number, not that nobody died. Older entries are fewer because fewer were written down, not because less happened.
Recorded history: NOAA NCEI hazard databases, public domain, retrieved 2026-10-22.
Who to listen to if you live here
NDMA, National Disaster Management Authority is the agency that tells people on this system what to do. https://www.ndma.gov.pk/ (in English)
Where these numbers come from
Fault geometry, length and segment counts: GEM Global Active Faults Database (GEM GAF-DB), GEM Foundation, https://github.com/GEMScienceTools/gem-global-active-faults Licence: CC-BY-SA-4.0. Figures derived from it here are offered under the same licence. Earthquake counts, magnitudes and depths: United States Geological Survey, public domain. The activity judgement is ours, computed from those two inputs, and is not a statement by either agency.