October 5, 2008 Earthquake: Nura, Kyrgyzstan
A magnitude 6.6 earthquake struck Nura, Kyrgyzstan on October 5, 2008 at 15:52:49 UTC, 27 km below the surface. It killed 74 people.
Map
Where it struck, with the other significant earthquakes within 200 km. Circles are sized and colored by magnitude; select one for its page.
The earthquake
- Date
- October 5, 2008
- Time
- 15:52:49 UTC
- Place
- Nura, Kyrgyzstan
- Magnitude
- 6.6 (Mw)
- Focal depth
- 27 km (17 mi)
- Tsunami
- None recorded
- Epicenter
- 39.533° N, 73.824° E
- Country
- Kyrgyzstan
The toll
- Deaths
- 74
- Injuries
- 140
- Damage
- Moderate (about $1 to $5 million)
- Houses destroyed
- Some (about 51 to 100)
Where the literature gives no number, NCEI records a description on a scale of 1 to 4, printed here in its words. Damage is in millions of US dollars of the year of the event, not adjusted for inflation.
What the record says
NCEI’s account, from the sources it cites.
At least 74 people killed, 140 injured and dozens of buildings destroyed at Nura. Felt (II) at
Bishkek. Also felt at Osh. Some buildings damaged in
Wuqia Xian, China. Felt at Kashi. Felt (IV) at
Dushanbe, Tajikistan. Also felt at Gharm and Khorugh.
Felt (IV) at Taraz and (III) at Almaty, Kazakhstan.
Also felt at Shymkent. Felt at Islamabad, Pakistan and
Tashkent, Uzbekistan.
The earthquake of October 5, 2008, occurred as a result of reverse faulting in the region of the Tien Shan and Pamir Mountains, near the intersection of the borders of Kyrgyzstan, Tajikstan, and China. The thrust nature of faulting is inferred from the characteristics of seismic waves radiated by the earthquake source. The faulting that caused the earthquake is a consequence of north-northwest, south-southeast, oriented compressive stress that ultimately arises from the motion of the India plate northwards with respect to the Eurasia plate at a rate of over 40 mm/yr. At the longitude of the earthquake epicenter, the principal boundary between these plates is situated in northern India and Pakistan, approximately 600 km south of the epicenter, but the zone of tectonic deformation associated with their convergence extends to the north of the principal boundary for more than 1000 km.
The tectonics of the epicentral region are complex, and both strike-slip and reverse faulting earthquakes have occurred in the vicinity of the October 5 shock. A magnitude 7.1 earthquake occurred on August 11, 1974, within several tens of kilometers of the 2008 shock; its aftershock sequence included earthquakes generated by both strike-slip and reverse faulting.
(above from reference #1053)
Other significant earthquakes nearby
Within 200 km, the deadliest first.
- December 16, 1902, Andizhan, Uzbekistan
- February 18, 1911, Usoy, Barchidiv, Posor, Nisur, Tajikistan
- August 23, 1985, Wuqua-Shufu, S Xinjiang, China
- November 1, 1896, Kashgar, Xinjiang Province, China
- December 7, 2015, Tajikistan
- November 25, 2016, Kashgar, Xinjiang Province, China
- August 29, 1963, Xinjiang, China
- February 12, 2021, Haripur, Tajikistan, Pakistan
- November 11, 1936, S, Xinjiang Weiwuer Zizhiqu Province, China
- April 5, 1943, Xinjiang Weiwuer Zizhiqu Province, China
- April 15, 1955, Xinjiang Province, China
- September 14, 1969, Xinjiang Province, China
- April 17, 1990, Wuqia County, S Xinjiang, China
- November 1, 1978, Dushanbe, Andizhan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan
- November 17, 2015, Osh, Kyrgyzstan
More
Significant earthquakes of 2008The 2000sEvery quake the USGS located in 2008Recent earthquakes near hereThis day in weather history
Sources
Significant earthquakes from NOAA’s National Centers for Environmental Information, Global Historical Hazard Database, cited as NCEI/WDS, doi:10.7289/V5PN93H7. Public domain. Read 2026-09-24. NCEI earthquake 8160.