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Earthquake in Tajikistan destroys 30 homes, school

By AFP
July 02, 2016

Dushanbe, Tajikistan: At least 30 homes and a school were destroyed in an earthquake that caused no injuries or deaths in Tajikistan, the ex-Soviet country´s state emergencies committee reported Saturday.

A committee spokesman told AFP, an earthquake of 5.4 magnitude struck in the remote Rasht region roughly 200 kilometres (124 miles) east of the Central Asian country´s capital Dushanbe at around 1500 GMT on Friday.

A full assessment of the damage is still being carried out by the committee´s team on the ground, the spokesman added.

Mountainous and poverty-struck Tajikistan is prone to regular natural disasters including landslides and earthquakes.

Last week in neighbouring Kyrgyzstan a stronger quake of 6.7 magnitude struck close to the nations´ shared border according to the Kyrgyz emergency services ministry, but did not cause damage or casualties.