Tajikistan Earthquake

February 23, 2023

An earthquake of 7.2 Ritcher recently hit Tajikistan. The epicentre of the earthquake was just 82 km away from China border. The quake was felt in the western part of the Xinjiang region. The earthquake was first reported by the Chinese.

Recent earthquakes

A severe earthquake of 7.8 Richter struck Turkey and Syria. There were 2100 aftershocks. On 20 February 2023, more than 6,000 aftershocks were recorded. It was one of the deadliest earthquakes in the history of Turkey. More aftershocks are expected. The earthquake in the region is highly disastrous as Turkey is located in a seismically fragile zone. It is at the tri-junction of three plates namely the Arabian plate, the African plate, and the Eurasian plate.
The Maluku Earthquake in Indonesia that occurred mid-Feb of 2023 was also big. It recorded 7.6 on the Ritcher scale. Any earthquake above 6 Ritcher is big.
The earthquakes in Australia and India and other earthquakes were less than 6 Richter. They were in the range of around 4.

Why are earthquakes increasing these days?

There are no specific reasons for the increase and decrease in the frequency of earthquakes. Earthquakes occur when the tectonic plates collide with each other. According to the National Earthquake Information Centre of the US, around 20,000 earthquakes occur in the world every year. That is, 55 per day! Some are violent and others are soft. In 2012, there were 23 major earthquakes. A major earthquake means more than 7 Richter. This year has the maximum number of earthquake occurrences so far.

The recent earthquakes are because of the movement of the African plate, Arabian plate, and Indian plate. After the collision, they release a few aftershocks to settle down.

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