Mudslides, earthquakes in Afghanistan, Tajikistan
10:00 a.m., April 2-Flooding that began March 27 has resulted in the death of more than 80 people and the displacement of hundreds of people in one-third of Afghanistan’s provinces.
Mudslides and flooding also killed ten and displaced many in Tajikistan two days ago; today, earthquakes at 6.2 on the Richter scale have affected Dushanbe and outlying areas. No casualty reports are yet available.
To those who have suffered losses, I extend my regrets and wishes for your safety.
To read about the disasters, check IRIN news report on Afghanistan’s mud slides and Reuters for breaking news on Tajikistan’s earthquake.
Official comments from The Islamic Republic of Afghanistan’s Department of Disaster Preparedness site are not yet available, but this is the site where the information will be relayed.
I will also update this post as news comes forward.
Update: 4:45 pm April 2: Alisa Tang of AP reports that there are 150 known casualties from the floods in Afghanistan; the government and ISAF are attempting to reach another 20,000-25,000 citizens cut off from aid efforts.
One woman in Tajikistan and her seven children were killed by mudslides. Fifty people in Pakistan are known to have perished.
CBS is also carrying the story
Photo: Afghanistan’s DDP
April 5th, 2007 at 1:20 pm
[…] A third way of looking at watersheds in Central Asia includes mountain precipitation, geology, and geography. At the western limit of the mountain ranges, precipitation averages 1500 mm per year (60 inches) ; at the east, 150 mm per year (6 inches). The Pamir and Tien Shan mountain ranges hold approximately 20,000 glaciers. These mountain ranges are seismically active, and earthquakes such as the one this week are not uncommon. (See previous post). In 1911, an earthquake in the Pamirs created a naturally-formed dam and new lake in Tajikistan, the 61-km long Lake Sarez, pictured here. But just as earthquakes can make dams, they can destroy them, leaving Central Asia liable to flooding, mudslides, and redefinition of watercourses. Likewise, global warming presents the prospect of increased seismic activity. It also suggests that glaciers will melt at a faster rate, meaning that water runoff from glaciers is liable to create floods at first, and then severely curtail these water sources for Central Asia’s people in the future. […]