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Tosha Dickason
An earthquake of magnitude 4.3 on the Richer Scale jolted Tajikistan on 11 October, the National Centre of Seismology (NCS) has informed. According to NCS, the earthquake occurred at 9:53 am (IST) on Wednesday at a depth of 120 kms.
This came hours after an 6.3 magnitude earthquake struck Afghanistan's western province of Herat today where a quake on Saturday killed more than 2,000 people which also forced authorities to redeploy relief and rescue teams already in the field following a series of deadly quakes. According to the US Geological Survey, the 6.3-magnitude earthquake Wednesday morning was about 28 kilometers outside the capital of Herat province. As per USGC, the depth of the quake was 10.0 km. The epicenter of Saturday's deadly quake was about 40 kilometers (25 miles) northwest of the provincial capital.
Moreover, the report added that the landslide also flattened all 700 homes in Chahak village, which was untouched by the tremors of previous days. There are mounds of soil where dwellings used to be. But there were no deaths initially reported in Chahak because people have taken shelter in tents this week, fearing for their lives as tremors continue to rock Herat.
As per WHO report, an estimated 12,110 people (1,730 families) in five districts Zindajan, Injil, Gulran, Injil and Khosan in Herat Province have been impacted by the earthquake. The hardest hit villages are Naieb Rafi, Mahal Wardakah, Kushk, Sia Aab, Kajkal and Nawabad in Zindajan district, where 100 percent houses have been completely destroyed.
Complete overview of the latest earthquakes near the country Tajikistan, updated every minute. Did you feel an earthquake today in Tajikistan? If an earthquake is happening right now near Tajikistan (also known as Тоҷикистон), it will show up within minutes.
A total of 3095 earthquakes with a magnitude of four or above have struck within 300 km (186 mi) of Tajikistan in the past 10 years. This comes down to a yearly average of 309 earthquakes per year, or 25 per month. On average an earthquake will hit near Tajikistan roughly every 1 days.
The table below visualizes the distribution of all earthquakes that occurred within 300km of Tajikistan in the past 10 years. No earthquakes with a magnitude of 8 or above have occurred near Tajikistan during this time. Usually, higher magnitudes are less common than lower magnitudes. Small earthquakes with a magnitude below 4 on the Richter scale have been omitted from this overview.
In the table below you will find the strongest earthquakes that occurred near Tajikistan in the past 10 years. You can use the tabs to find the heaviest historic earthquakes since the year 1900 or within a specific year or distance from Tajikistan.
Lake Sarez (top), deep in the Pamir mountains of Tajikistan, was created 90 years ago when a strong earthquake triggered a massive landslide that, in turn, became a huge dam along the Murghob River, now called the Usoi Dam. The resulting lake is perched above surrounding drainages at an elevation greater than 3000m, and is part of the watershed that drains the towering Akademi Nauk Range (see the regional image, lower). The lake is 61 km long and as deep as 500 m, and holds an estimated 17 cubic km of water. The area experiences considerable seismic activity, and scientists fear that part of the right bank may slump into the lake, creating a huge wave that will top over and possibly breach the natural dam. Such a wave would create a catastrophic flood downstream along the Bartang, Panj and Amu Darya Rivers, perhaps reaching all the way to the Aral Sea. Currently, central Asian governments, as well as the World Bank and the UN are monitoring the dam closely, and have proposed gradually lowering the lake level as a preventive measure. Digital photograph numbers ISS002-E-7771 and ISS002-E-7479 were taken in the spring of 2001 from Space Station Alpha and are provided by the Earth Sciences and Image Analysis Laboratory at Johnson Space Center. Additional images taken by astronauts and cosmonauts can be viewed at the NASA-JSCGateway to Astronaut Photography of Earth.
Lake Sarez, deep in the Pamir mountains of Tajikistan, was created 90 years ago when a strong earthquake triggered a massive landslide that, in turn, became a huge dam along the Murghob River, now called the Usoi Dam. The resulting lake is perched above surrounding drainages at an elevation greater than 3000 meters. The lake is 61 kilometers long and as deep as 500 meters, and holds an estimated 17 cubic kilometers of water. The area experiences considerable seismic activity, and scientists fear that part of the right bank may slump into the lake, creating a huge wave that will top over and possibly breach the natural dam. Such a wave would create a catastrophic flood downstream along the Bartang, Panj and Amu Darya Rivers, perhaps reaching all the way to the Aral Sea.
Lake Titicaca, at an elevation of 12,507 feet (3,812 meters) in the Andean Altiplano, is the highest large lake in the world. More than 120 miles long and 50 miles wide, it was the center of the Incan civilization, and today straddles the boundary between Peru and Bolivia.
On January 2, 2010, a 5.3 magnitude earthquake hit a number of remote villages in Tajikistan. According to the Associated Press, some 20,000 people were left homeless, but fortunately there were no reported deaths. The international media barely took notice of the event although Tajikistan, along with its Central Asian neighbors, lies in one of the most earthquake-prone regions of the world.
Ten days later, on January 12, 2010, a 7.0 magnitude earthquake struck Haiti. Over 220,000 people were reported killed and more than a million people left homeless. On February 27, 2010, an even stronger earthquake with the magnitude of 8.8 hit the coastal region of central Chile. It left some 450 people dead and affected more than 2 million people. The death toll of the Chilean earthquake was substantially lower than that in Haiti despite its greater strength, mostly due to better building construction, better preparedness and better response, all linked to greater wealth and better governance conditions in Chile compared to Haiti. Nonetheless, the initial response of the authorities was criticized widely for lack of adequate speed and effectiveness (see Natural Disasters, National Diligence: The Chilean Earthquake in Perspective by Daniel Kaufmann and Jos Tessada).
A recent World Bank-United Nations report systematically reviews the extraordinarily high disaster risks which Central Asian countries face and concludes that earthquakes represent the highest risk in terms of potential loss of lives and economic damage.[2] Tajikistan might lose as much as 20% of its GDP from a major seismic event. If earthquakes of past severity were to recur, damage today is estimated to be higher due to greater populations numbers and density and low building standards. If the quake that hit Dushanbe in 1907 were to recur today, some 55,000 deaths and over $1 billion in economic damage could result, according to another World Bank-United Nations report.[3] According to a 1996 estimate there is a 40% chance that a 9.0 magnitude quake will hit one of the Central Asian cities within 20 years.[4]
The bottom line is that there has been little progress in this critical area since the collapse of the Soviet Union 20 years ago, and the risk of a major disaster possibly on the scale of Haiti, is a real threat. If anything, the ability of Central Asian countries to respond to a major disaster today, similar to the Armenia earthquake in 1988, which killed 25,000 people and caused losses estimated $14.2 billion, is less than in Soviet days. National capacities are very limited, borders are hard, cooperation among countries weak, and engagement from outside the region highly constrained.
What can be done? Seven steps should be the immediate focus of action, following the dramatic warning signals that the Haiti and Chile earthquakes have sent to other parts of the world subject to high seismic risk, and especially to Central Asia.
Second, the issue of natural disaster preparedness should be put at the top of the agenda of the two key regional organizations for Central Asia: the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) and the Eurasian Economic Community (EurasEC). These organizations meet annually at the heads of state level. SCO involves not only Russia, but also China. While the capacity for financing and implementation of these two organizations is limited, their summit agreements should provide political momentum and instruct the regional implementation bodies, in particular CAREC, to develop regional strategies and action plans with international partners, including the Eurasian Development Bank, World Bank, United Nations and key bilateral agencies from Germany, Switzerland and the United States.
Sixth, each international and bilateral organization engaged in Central Asia should give much more attention to the issue of earthquake preparedness, not only in terms of deployment of analytical, advisory and financial resources within the region, but also in terms of assuring that its internal response capacity to a major earthquake is fully developed, tested and at the ready. Agencies also need to be sure that their own staff on the ground is housed in facilities that are likely to withstand major shocks. The tragic losses of UN personnel during the Haiti earthquake are a painful reminder of this immediate risk to the agencies themselves.
Seventh, the response should include not only a focus on better preparedness by the governments and official international agencies, but must also involve civil society at the local, national and international level. What is more, the development of private insurance mechanisms, as supported by the World Bank in Turkey, needs to be fostered proactively as recommended by a recent World Bank-United Nations report.[9]
Any serious earthquake that hits a heavily populated area will have severe consequences. The recent experience of Haiti and Chile are a tragic reminder how important effective preparedness and response are, if loss of life and damage is to be kept to a minimum. With the high risk of intensive seismic action in Central Asia, national and international attention and action must be focused on developing better risk reduction, preparedness and response in the region. It would be real progress if action is taken before the next disaster hits, rather than, as is all too often the case, after the tragedy strikes.