Magnitude-7.2 earthquake rattles Tajikistan

PanARMENIAN.Net - A magnitude 7.2 earthquake has hit Tajikistan, the Independent reports citing the U.S. Geological Survey.

It struck at 7.50am today (December 7) with an epicentre in the Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Region, around 70 miles west of the city of Murghob, seismologists said.

Tremors were felt in Delhi, as well as in Punjab, Uttar Pradesh and across northern India. Hundreds of people ran out of shaking buildings and stayed out on the streets fearing aftershocks, NDTV reported.

A spokesman for Tajikistan's Emergencies Committee said it had no information so far on any casualties or damage from the quake, while Russia's defence ministry said its bases in the country were unaffected.

In Dushanbe, the Tajikistani capital around 400 miles from the earthquake's epicentre, the tremors felt "moderate" according to a resident speaking to Reuters by telephone.

The U.S. Geological Survey describes the area as one of the “most seismically hazardous regions on Earth” because of tectonic activity along shifting fault lines.

The Main Pamir Thrust, beneath mountains in Tajikistan, produces numerous earthquakes as the Indian and Eurasian plates collide.

A 7.4 magnitude earthquake in the Central Pamir Mountains killed almost 100 people in 1911 and triggered a massive landslide that blocked the Murghab River.