Earthquake of magnitude 4.2 strikes Kyrgyzstan

Bishkek [Kyrgyzstan], November 20 (ANI): An earthquake of magnitude 4.2 struck Kyrgyzstan on Thursday, a statement by the National Center for Seismology (NCS) said.

As per the statement, the earthquake struck at a shallow depth of 10km, making it susceptible to aftershocks.

In a post on X, NCS said, "EQ of M: 4.2, On: 20/11/2025 18:05:10 IST, Lat: 41.63 N, Long: 73.74 E, Depth: 10 Km, Location: Kyrgyzstan."

Shallow earthquakes are generally more dangerous than deep earthquakes. This is because the seismic waves from shallow earthquakes have a shorter distance to travel to the surface, resulting in stronger ground shaking and potentially more damage to structures and greater casualties.

Central-Asian Institute for Applied Geosciences (CAIAG) stated that the Kyrgyz Republic is located in a highly seismic region, prone to devastating earthquakes that have led to deaths, destroyed homes and destroyed households in the past and most recently.

Although earthquakes are less common than other natural hazards, such as floods and landslides, they cause the largest share of natural disaster losses across the country (World Bank, 2008). Due to the rapid urbanization and evolving nature of the economy in the Kyrgyz Republic, there is a strong incentive to invest in a national strategy to reduce seismic risk as the most effective way to mitigate the potential impact of natural disasters and reduce expected losses.

To better understand seismic hazard and risk in the country, the World Bank and the Global Fund for Disaster Reduction and Recovery (GFDRR) have appointed a group of Ove Arup and Partners International Ltd (Arup), Helmholtz Center in Potsdam - German Research Center (GFZ), Central Asian Institute for Applied Earth Research (CAIAG) and the Global Earthquake Model Fund (GEM) to conduct the first detailed quantitative study of seismic hazard and risk in the Kyrgyz Republic nationwide.

The expected annual economic losses incurred in case of damage to all classes of assets (residential buildings, schools, transport infrastructure) as a result of earthquakes are large. The results of the estimation of the volume of losses for residential buildings during scenic earthquakes indicate a large volume of economic losses and a large number of victims expected as a result of several scenario earthquakes. (ANI)

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