DUSHANBE, January 27, 2010, Asia-Plus — A total damage caused to the Vanj district in Gorno Badakhshan by a January 2 earthquake has been estimated at 6.609 million somoni, Khaybullo Latipov, head of the Committee for Emergency Situations (CES), told reporters in Dushanbe on January 26.
According to him, at least 1,283 houses were damaged; of them, 28 houses were destroyed completely. “107 residential buildings are in a very poor state and 130 other houses were damaged partially,” Latipov said.
The disaster affected some 20 villages in Vanj. The worst hit villages are Gishkhun, Puni Chughoni, Bichkharv (phonetically spelled), Rogh, Bodavd, Panjshanbeobod, Dashtirogh, Rokharv and Punidim the CES head said, noting that operation on relocation of residents of these villages to safe places in Vanj is under way.
By government’s instruction more than 30 tons of humanitarian aid and 255 tents have been delivered to the region, Latipov added.
We will recall that a strong quake jolted the Vanj district in Gorno Badakhshan on January 2, at 7:15 a.m. According to the Dushanbe seismological station, an epicenter of the quake was 230 kilometers southeast of Dushanbe and 15 kilometers of the administrative center of the Vanj district. In the epicenter, the earthquake’s magnitude was 5.0. There were no casualties as residents left their houses when they felt the first tremors. The quake left some 600 people homeless in Vanj.
A 4.0 magnitude tremor could be felt in Khorog, the capital of Gorno Badakhshan and a 3.0 magnitude tremor could be felt in the Lake Sarez area. The tremor measuring 2.0 on a 12-point scale could be felt in Dushanbe as well.
