A powerful earthquake occurred in Uzbekistan. Referring to data from the Ministry of Emergency Situations of Uzbekistan, BFM reports that aftershocks were felt throughout the country. The magnitude of the earthquake reached 7.7 points. There are no reports of casualties or damage yet.
According to the agency, the strength of earthquakes in the Surkhandarya region was 5-6 points, in the Fergana, Syrdarya, Jizzakh, Andijan, Namangan, Samarkand, Kashkadarya, Bukhara regions, and in Tashkent – 5 points, in Termez – 4- 5 points, in the Republic of Karakalpakstan – 4 points. 5 points were recorded directly in Tashkent.
The Ministry of Emergency Situations also clarified that the epicenter of the earthquake was located 561 km southeast of Tashkent on the territory of Afghanistan at a depth of 220 km. It was also felt on the territory of Tajikistan and Kazakhstan.
We will remind you that at the beginning of February, a large earthquake occurred in Turkey – and of a similar force, resulting in a huge number of victims. The first earthquake with a magnitude of 7.8 occurred in Kahramanmaras province in southeastern Turkey on February 6 at 04:17 local time. Then another 7.7 magnitude earthquake was recorded in the central part of the country. They were followed by about 300 aftershocks that were felt in 10 provinces of the country and neighboring states, the strongest in Syria. In total, about 10 cities were hit by the elements, among them only in Turkey Adana, Adiaman, Gaziantep, Diyarbakir, Kahramanmaras, Kilis, Malatya, Osmania, Hatay, Sanliurfa. The total number of victims was from 42 to 48 thousand according to the latest estimates. This disaster became the biggest in the history of Turkey in the last 100 years.
For reference, let’s add that the strength of earthquakes is expressed on the Richter scale, based on the assessment of the energy of seismic waves that are formed during tectonic shifts and cause an earthquake. The scale was developed by the American seismologist Charles Richter in 1935. Importantly, the scale uses a logarithmic scale, which means that each value on the scale indicates an earthquake ten times greater in power than the previous one. Thus, an earthquake with a magnitude of 5.0 on the Richter scale will cause 10 times more shaking of the Earth’s crust than a 4.0 earthquake. Therefore, earthquakes are conventionally divided into several groups according to their power and degree of destruction:
2.0 – the weakest shocks felt by a person;
4.5 – the weakest shocks that lead to small destructions;
6.0 – moderate destruction on the surface;
8.5 – the strongest known earthquake.