Why is Afghanistan so vulnerable to earthquakes?

Why is Afghanistan so vulnerable to earthquakes?

From Science In Action by BBC World Service

September 4, 2025 · 28 min

About this episode

The episode discusses Afghanistan's vulnerability to earthquakes and features insights from a climate scientist and neuroscience research.

Despite the relatively low magnitude, earthquakes in Afghanistan this week have left more than1000 dead. Afghan researcher Zakeria Shnizai from the University of Oxford unpicks some of the main causes of the country’s vulnerability to earthquakes. Also this week, we talk to the climate scientist who led a 400+ page rebuttal to the US Department of Energy’s report on climate change. We hear about research which has mapped the activity of over 600,000 neurons in 279 regions of the mouse brain to learn more about how decisions are made. And we get the latest updates on 3I/ATLAS, the latest interstellar comet streaking its way across our solar system, just before it disappears behind the sun. Presenter: Roland Pease Producer: Ella Hubber Production Coordinator: Jana Bennett-Holesworth (Image: Magnitude 6.0 earthquake strikes eastern Afghanistan. Credit: Anadolu via Getty Images).

People in this episode

Host: Roland Pease

Guest: Zakeria Shnizai

Topics covered

  • earthquakes
  • Afghanistan
  • climate change
  • neuroscience
  • interstellar comets

Keywords

  • earthquake
  • Afghanistan
  • climate change
  • neuroscience
  • interstellar comet
  • Zakeria Shnizai
  • Roland Pease

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: University of Oxford, US Department of Energy

Places: Afghanistan, solar system

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