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Tajikistan Earthquake Leaves 20,000 Homeless

   No deaths have been reported, but more than 1,000 mud-brick homes were
   destroyed near Dushanbe

   VOA News 03 January 2010

   Tajikistan  officials  say  some 20,000 people have been left homeless
   after an earthquake rocked the impoverished Central Asian nation.
   Authorities  say more than 1,000 mud-brick homes were destroyed in the
   Vanch  district,  about  400  kilometers  southeast  of  the  capital,
   Dushanbe. No deaths have been reported from Saturday's quake.
   Local  officials estimate the damages from the 5-magnitude trembler at
   $1.5 million.
   Authorities   said   the  quake  also  cut  electricity  supplies  and
   communications  in  the area.  Rock falls and mudslides blocked a road
   linking Vanch with a regional center and other villages.
   Earthquakes  are  fairly common in the mountains of Tajikistan, one of
   the poorest of the former Soviet republics.

   Some information for this report was provided by AP, Reuters.

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