Hait (Tajik: Ҳоит), a region in Tajikistan, a strategic, land-locked mountainous country in Central Asia, is the site of one of the world's worst earthquakes last century.
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Earthquake catastrophe
In 1949 one of the three largest earthquakes of the 20th century, struck Tajikistan at Hait. The Hait catastrophe belongs to the category of the largest earthquakes occurring last century.
According to the Global Seismic Hazard Map (GSHAP 1999), the whole country is located in the high to very high risk zone with a history of catastrophic and deadly earthquakes. About 28,000 to 29,000 people are estimated to have died in the quake which destroyed 150 villages.
Geography
The region where the quake took place encompasses where the Surkhob valley at an altitude of 1,200-2,100 metres and the Obikhingow valley to the south of it at 1,200 to 3,200 metres come close together in a seismic region. The Obikhingow valley lies between the ranges of Peter 1 and Parvaz.