11/11/2013 18:55
Earthquakes in Tajikistan destroy over 100 houses
A series of earthquakes in Tajikistan over the last 24 hours has completely destroyed over 100 homes and damaged hundreds more, a rescue services spokesman said Monday, according to RIA Novosti.
Orif Nozimov, press service head of Tajikistan’s Emergency Situations Committee, said that 104 houses had been destroyed and 256 others were damaged by three earthquakes that hit the country on Sunday and Monday morning.
The first seismic disturbance, which local seismologists said had a magnitude of 5.0, struck Tajikistan’s Rudaki district south of the capital Dushanbe on Sunday at 10:15 a.m. local time. A second earthquake with the same magnitude hit the area again at about 5 p.m., followed by a third tremor with a magnitude of 4.0 at about 7 a.m. Monday morning, seismologists said.
Earthquake severity in most former Soviet states is measured on the Richter magnitude scale, which quantifies the amount of seismic energy released by the tremors. Earthquakes with a magnitude of 4.0 to 5.9 are considered light to moderate, usually causing major damage only to poorly constructed buildings over small areas.