The Himalayan and Hindu-Kush ranges are seismically active and undergoing rapid uplift.  Active tectonism occurs in these mountain chains (Molnar and Chen, 1982).  The entire region of the Pamir and its surroundings is seismically active.  This seismicity is due to the crustal shortening and thickening caused by the northward penetration of the Indian Plate into Asia  (Burtman and Molnar, 1993). The most active intracontinental seismicity occurs beneath the Pamir and the Hindu-Kush.  These earthquakes are presumably caused by slabs of lithosphere being underthrust beneath the Pamir and Hindu-Kush (Hamberger, et al. 1992, Burtman and Molnar 1993).

            The most intense intermediate earthquakes zone in the Hindu-Kush, occur steeply northward to a depth of 300 km and project to the earth's surface just south of the Hindu-Kush in Afghanistan.  The Hindu-Kush zone seems to continue to the north-east beneath the western and central parts of the Pamir. There is a high seismic wave velocity in the region of intermediate-depth seismic zone (Vinnik et al., 1977).  A thick lithosphere from the continental shield had been underthrusting in this area.  Seismic velocities in the upper 200 km of the mantle near the Hindu-Kush has revealed lower P and S wave velocities suggesting that not only mantle lithosphere but also some continental crust has been subducted to at least 150 km (Roecker, 1982). These zones define two downgoing slabs of lithosphere.  The intermediate-depth earthquakes in Hindu-Kush seem to occur very near to a low velocity region which could be subducted continental crust.

for Detailed Report click on the link