The 1983 Hindu Kush earthquake occurred south of Fayzabad, Badakhshan in northeast Afghanistan at 03:52 PST on December 31, 1983, near the border with Pakistan and the USSR (now Tajikistan).

Striking 214.5 km beneath the Hindu Kush mountains, the moment magnitude 7.4 quake affected three countries,[1] killing at least 26 people and injuring several hundred.

The area is seismically active, particularly as a result of faulting at just over 200 km depth within the downgoing slab, producing intraplate earthquakes.

Many large greater than magnitude 7.0 have been observed in the Hindu Kush, all with similar epicenters, with an approximate periodicity of about 10–15 years.

[5] The most recent large event of this type was the October 2015 Hindu Kush earthquake which killed over 300 people.

Vertical necking or stretching of the rapidly moving (10 cm/yr) downgoing slab in the vicinity of the source fault encourages a high slip rate of 9.6 cm/year.