DUSHANBE, October 27, 2015, Asia-Plus – A powerful earthquake jolted some areas of Tajikistan Monday afternoon.
According to the Geophysics Service of the Academy of Sciences of Tajikistan, a powerful tremor measuring 5.0-6.0 on a 12-point scale hit Dushanbe yesterday at 2:09 pm.
A powerful earthquake could also be felt in Khatlon province, Rasht Valley (eastern Tajikistan) and the Gorno Badakhshan Autonomous Region (GBAO).
Radio Liberty’s Tajik Service
reports that a staircase at School # 45 in Khatlon’s Yovon district collapsed, injuring 14 children.
There were also reports of injuries in a stampede at Khorog State University in Gorno Badakhshan, as a building was evacuated.
According to
RFE/RL’s Tajik Service
, no less than 60 residents of Dushanbe, mostly women, consulted a doctor after the tremor and seven people were taken to the emergency hospital.
The Committee for Emergency Situations and Civil Defense under the Government of Tajikistan (CES) says eight residential buildings have been destroyed in the Ishkashim district of Gorno Badakhshan and one school building was partially damaged there.
Special commissions have been set up to assess the damage caused by the earthquake to the Vanj and Darvoz districts in Gorno Badakhshan.
Meanwhile, international media report one of the strongest earthquakes to hit Afghanistan in decades rocked the country”s north on October 26, leaving heavy casualties and damage in its wake across South Asia.
More than 30 people were reported killed in Afghanistan, while more than 130 were reported dead in neighboring Pakistan. Casualties are expected to rise as rescuers, in some cases hampered by mudslides following recent heavy rains in the region, reach remote areas.
BBC
reports twelve Afghan schoolgirls trying to flee their school in Takhar Province were among those who died as a result of the magnitude 7.5 quake.
The earthquake, which hit Afghanistan”s northern Hindu Kush region lasted at least one minute and shook buildings in Kabul, Islamabad, and Delhi and sent thousands of people rushing into the streets.
The earthquake was centered in the mountainous Hindu Kush region, 76km (45 miles) south of Faizabad, the US Geological Survey reported.
However as the earthquake originated more than 200km below the earth”s surface, the damage is less than that which a similarly powerful but shallow tremor might cause.
CNN
reports Monday”s magnitude-7.5 earthquake was similar to a magnitude-7.6 quake in nearby Kashmir that killed more than 70,000 in 2005. But unlike the quake 10 years ago, this one happened deep inside the Earth, some 223 kilometers below the surface.
Earthquakes at this depth typically cause less damage on the surface than shallower quakes, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.
The region has a history of powerful earthquakes caused by the northward collision of India with Eurasia. The two plates are moving towards each other at a rate of 4-5cm per year.
