Strong quake hits Central Asia, buildings damaged

A powerful earthquake hit Central Asia's densely populated Ferghana valley early on Wednesday, shaking homes and sending residents of several Uzbek and Kyrgyz cities onto the streets in panic, residents said.

The US Geological Survey said the 6.1 magnitude earthquake occurred 17.8 km (11.1 miles) underground, about 42 km (26 miles) southwest of Ferghana, a city in the east of Uzbekistan in an area close to the border with Kyrgyzstan.

It had earlier reported the earthquake at magnitude 6.2, at a depth of 9.2 km (5.7 miles) underground.

There were no immediate reports of casualties. Local residents on either side of the Kyrgyz-Uzbek border, reached by Reuters by telephone, reported prolonged, violent shaking that cracked the walls of their houses.

"Everybody was afraid. Everything was shaking," Dilaffrus Muminova, a Ferghana resident said. "It lasted two or three minutes, if not more."

Another native of Ferghana, who lives in Kazakhstan, said residents of her home city had been woken by strong shaking at about 0130 local time (1930 GMT). Most people evacuated their apartment blocks and spent the night on the streets.

After speaking to Ferghana residents by telephone, she said some had reported a loud noise before their houses were jolted.

She said local residents also reported damage to low-rise apartment blocks in the nearby town of Margilan, a silk production centre. "It's an old town and some of the old houses have been destroyed," she said, requesting anonymity.

Ferghana valley -- split between Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan in a confused patchwork of Soviet-era borders -- is Central Asia's most densely populated area. Tremors were felt across the vast, mountainous region.

In Kadamzhai, a Kyrgyz city close to the epicentre, local resident Seitmurad Kozhoyev said by telephone that windows had been shattered and at least one multi-storey apartment block had been badly damaged. He said he was not aware of any casualties.

Ismat, a resident of the Kyrgyz city of Batken, close to the border with Uzbekistan, also said buildings had shaken violently and that cracks were visible in the walls, although he had not seen any buildings collapse.
"People were on the streets all night. There was a lot of panic," he said. "God is punishing us for what we are doing."

More than 400 people were killed in and around Osh during several days of clashes between ethnic Kyrgyz and Uzbeks in June 2010. At the height of the violence, about 400,000 people fled their homes in the region.

Earthquakes are frequent in Central Asia, a strategic and mineral-rich region of mountain and steppe between Afghanistan, Iran, Russia and China.

In 2008, a powerful earthquake killed more than 70 people in Kyrgyzstan. In 1966, the Uzbek capital Tashkent was flattened by a 7.5 earthquake that left hundreds of thousands of people homeless. A 6 magnitude quake rocked Tashkent in 2008 but there was no damage.

Ferghana valley is a major centre of cotton and silk production, and the hills above are covered by walnut forests.

Follow Emirates 24|7 on Google News.