Many residents of Gorno-Badakhshan, a semi-autonomous eastern region in Tajikistan, are feared dead after a 6.8-magnitude earthquake struck the city that borders Afghanistan and China.
According to the US Geological Survey, the earthquake struck on Thursday, February 23, 2023, around 5:37 am local time (0037 GMT) at a depth of about 20.5 kilometres (12.7 miles).
The USGS said the epicentre of the quake was about 67 kilometres from the small mountain town of Murghob.
“A 5.0-magnitude aftershock hit the area about 20 minutes after the initial quake, followed by a 4.6-magnitude quake,” the USGS said.
Tajikistan, like much of the rest of Central Asia, is highly prone to natural disasters and has a long history of floods, earthquakes, landslides, avalanches and heavy snowfalls.
On February 15, nine people were killer in an avalanche in Gorno-Badakhshan, while another person was killed the same day in another avalanche on a highway near the capital Dushanbe.
