6-7 magnitude earthquakes expected in Central Asia

Central Asian countries are considered to be a high seismic risk zone and 6-7 magnitude quakes are possible in the area in the coming years, Tengrinews.kz reports citing Co-Director of Central Asian Institute of Applied Geosciences Bolot Moldobekov. As per Moldobekov, seismic activity in the region has intensified. A intensifiedmeeting of leading seismic scientists of Central Asia and Europe is held in Bishkek to assess and discuss seismic hazards in Central Asian countries. The event is attended by representatives of Uzbekistan, Turkmenista, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Germany and other countries. It is expected that the works to evaluation vulnerability of buildings to earthquakes in large and seismically hazardous cities of the region will be held in July. Experts say that most of the buildings in Central Asian countries are not earthquake-proof. “Old buildings are very common for Central Asia countries. 70 percent of buildings in Almaty, Tashkent, Bishkek and Dushanbe were built in 1950s. Their seismic resistance is quite low,” Moldobekov said.