DUSHANBE, December 17, 2015, Asia-Plus – Tajik President Emomali Rahmon on December 17 sent a telegram of gratitude to his Turkmen counterpart Gurbanguly Berdymukhammedov for the humanitarian aid provided by Turkmenistan to the sufferers of a strong earthquake that hit the Gorno Badakhshan Autonomous Region (GBAO) on December 7, according to the Tajik president’s official website.
“We consider this step as one more display of fraternal mutual assistance… We are convinced that this fraternal support will be a good help to the efforts being taken to remove effects of the recent earthquake in the Gorno Badakhshan Autonomous Region of our country,” President Rahmon noted in his message.
According to reports released by Turkmen media outlets, Turkmenistan has sent 22 cargo trains loaded with relief supplies to Tajikistan.
The assistance included 1,000 tons of diesel fuel, 134 tons of grade 1 wheat, 12 tons of cooking (cotton) oil, ad 120 tons of building bar.
We will recall that the earthquake measuring 7.2 on Richter scale hit a sparsely populated area in the Gorno Badakhshan on December 7 at 12:50. The Bartang Valley was the most his area
The Geophysics Service of Tajikistan’s Academy of Sciences says the epicenter was 93 kilometers west of the settlement of Murgab, the administrative center of GBAO’s Murgab district, 138 kilometers northeast of Khorog, the capital of Gorno Badakhshan and 357 kilometers southeast of Dushanbe.
The location of the earthquake was reportedly close (only 22 kilometers) to Lake Sarez, which was formed in February 1911 when a nearby M 7.3 earthquake dammed the Murgab River.
The Committee on Emergency Situation and Civil Defense (CES) says two people were killed and at least 13 others were injured by the December 7 earthquake.
The U.S. Geological Survey said the December 7 earthquake epicenter was 345 kilometers east of Dushanbe and it was felt as far away as the Indian capital, New Delhi, as well as in Afghanistan and in Pakistan.
According to official data, 237 residential buildings have been destroyed completely and 588 residential buildings have been damaged partially in Gorno Badakhshan. In the Rushan district alone, 214 residential buildings have been destroyed completely and 205 other houses have been damaged partially.
