Central Asia
Strong and Damaging Earthquakes in Central Asia since 1885.
Selected destructive earthquakes (mostly shallow events) which
occurred since 1900 in Central Asia are plotted with stars (blue).
Epicenters of the earthquakes and
underground nuclear explosions during 1960-1995 listed on
PDE monthly list are plotted to show seismicity in central
Asia. Earthquakes with different focal depth are plotted
with green for intermediate depth events, and red circles
for deep earthquakes.
Large destructive earthquakes of magnitude greater than 8 have occurred in
the region. For example, about 25,000 people were killed during a
recent earthquake that occurred in Armenia (12/07/1988; M = 6.9).
Large population centers in the central Asia such as, Almaty and
Tashkent have a high seismic risk.
Notice the cluster of shallow and intermediate depth earthquakes
near Gazli, Uzbekistan. The main seismicity is due to three large
earthquakes of magnitude about Ms=7 that occurred on 04/08/76, 05/17/76
and 03/19/84 near the Gazli gas field and their after shocks.
These earthquakes are believed to be induced by gas field activity.
Hence, seismic hazard can be caused both by natural earthquakes and
events due to human activity.
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