The following is a list documenting major earthquakes that have occurred in Kyrgyzstan. The list also include earthquakes with epicenters outside the country, but caused significant impact in Kyrgyzstan.
Date | Location | Magnitude | MMI | Deaths | Total damage / notes | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1885-08-02 | Belovodski, Kyrgyzstan | 7.6 Mw | X | 54 | [1] | |
1887-06-08 | Verny, Kazakhstan | 7.7 Mw | X | 300 | All adobe houses in Verny destroyed. [2] | [1] |
1889-07-11 | Chilik, Kazakhstan | 7.9 Mw | X | Unk. | [1] | |
1902-08-22 | Kyrgyzstan-Xinjiang border region | 7.7 Mw | XI | 5,000+ | Major damage in Xinjiang. | [3] |
1911-01-03 | Issyk Kul, Kazakhstan-Kyrgyzstan border region | 7.7 Mw | X | 450 | Major damage and many injured. | [4] |
1946-11-02 | Askay, Kyrgyzstan | 7.5 Mw | X | Unk. | Major damage reported and an unspecified number of casualties. | [5] |
1974-08-11 | Kyrgyzstan-Tajikistan-Xinjiang border region | 7.3 Ms | VIII | Unk. | [6] | |
1978-03-24 | Almaty, Kazakhstan | 7.1 Ms | VIII | 0 | Some damage reported. Seiches in Issyk-Kul. | [7] |
1985-08-23 | Ulugqat, Xinjiang | 7.0 Mw | VII | 71 | US $5 million in damages. | [8] |
1987-01-24 | Kyrgyzstan-Xinjiang border region | 6.2 Mw | VII | 0 | More than 417 homes in Uqturpan County damaged. | [9] |
1992-05-15 | eastern Uzbekistan | 6.2 Ms | VII | 3 | At least 5,500 homes destroyed and another 4,000 over damaged. | [10] |
1992-08-19 | Suusamyr, Kyrgyzstan | 7.3 Mwb | IX | 75 | [11] | |
1996-03-19 | Artux, Xinjiang | 6.3 Mwc | VI | 24 | Over 15,300 homes destroyed. At least 128 injured. | [12] |
2003-02-24 | Maralbexi, Xinjiang | 6.3 Mwc | VIII | 261 | 4,000 injured and over 70,000 buildings collapsed in Xinjiang. | [13] |
2005-02-14 | Kyrgyzstan-Xinjiang border region | 6.1 Mwc | VII | 0 | 6,000 homes destroyed or damaged. | [14] |
2008-10-05 | Nura, Kyrgyzstan | 6.7 Mwc | VII | 75 | Damage in Xinjiang. | |
2011-07-19 | Uzbekistan-Kyrgyzstan-Tajikistan border region | 6.1 Mw | VIII | 14 | No deaths in Kyrgyzstan. | |
Earthquakes are caused by movements within the Earth's crust and uppermost mantle. They range from events too weak to be detectable except by sensitive instrumentation, to sudden and violent events lasting many minutes which have caused some of the greatest disasters in human history. Below, earthquakes are listed by period, region or country, year, magnitude, cost, fatalities and number of scientific studies.
The 1988 Lancang–Gengma earthquakes, also known as the 11.6 earthquakes by the Chinese media were a pair of devastating seismic events that struck Lancang and Gengma counties, Yunnan, near the border with Shan State, Burma. The earthquake measured moment magnitude (Mw ) 7.0 and was followed 13 minutes later by a 6.9 Mw shock. These earthquakes were assigned a maximum China seismic intensity of IX and X, respectively. Between 748 and 939 people were killed; more than 7,700 were injured. Both earthquakes resulted in US$270 million in damage and economic losses. Moderately large aftershocks continued to rock the region, causing additional casualties and damage.
The 1902 Turkestan earthquake devastated Xinjiang, China, near the Kyrgyzstan border. It occurred on August 22, 1902, at 03:00:22 with an epicenter in the Tien Shan mountains. The thrust earthquake measured 7.7 on the moment magnitude scale (Mw ) and had a depth of 18 km (11 mi).
The 2020 Kashgar earthquake, also known as the Jiashi earthquake occurred on 19 January 2020 at 21:27:56 China Standard Time in Xinjiang Province, China. According to the United States Geological Survey, the earthquake had a moment magnitude of 6.0 and a surface wave magnitude of 6.4 according to the China Earthquake Network Center. It struck at a shallow depth of 5.6 km according to the USGS while the CENC has the figure at 16 km. Local emergency management agencies said the earthquake damaged more than 1,000 homes and businesses in the nearby populated towns and villages. One person is known to have died while two other children were injured.
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