The 1966 Tashkent earthquake occurred 60 years ago, on April 26, 1966, at 5:23 a.m. The epicenter of the Tashkent earthquake was located at the site of an ancient fortress in the center of Tashkent. Strong ground oscillations with a frequency of 2–3 Hz lasted 10–12 seconds.
How strong was the 1966 Tashkent earthquake
The magnitude of the Tashkent earthquake was relatively small — 5.2 on the Richter scale. However, due to the shallow depth of the focus (from 8 to 3 km), it caused ground shaking of 8–9 points (on the 12-point MSK-64 scale), which in turn led to significant damage to facilities in the center of the Uzbek capital.
The zone of maximum destruction covered about ten square kilometers. On the outskirts of Tashkent, the seismic effect barely reached 6 points.
The 1966 Tashkent earthquake — how many died
Fortunately, vertical (rather than horizontal) seismic oscillations predominated during the earthquake, which prevented the complete collapse even of dilapidated adobe houses. Therefore, in a city with a population of one and a half million at the time, there were not many casualties — 8 people died in the Tashkent earthquake and several hundred were injured.
Moreover, only in 10% of cases were injuries caused by collapsing walls and roofs, and in 35% of cases by falling structural parts of buildings and structures (bricks, plaster, gypsum moldings) and household items. In more than half of the cases, injuries were caused by panic behavior of victims, who even jumped from upper floors.
However, after the earthquake there were smaller repeated shocks (aftershocks), and because of them people suffered heart attacks, which increased the number of deaths (fatal cases).
Destruction in the Tashkent earthquake and subsequent construction
The Tashkent earthquake almost completely destroyed the central part of the capital — more than 2 million square meters of housing were destroyed, 236 administrative buildings, about 700 trade and public catering facilities, 26 municipal enterprises, 181 educational institutions, 36 cultural institutions, 185 medical and 245 industrial buildings. 78,000 families, or more than 300,000 people (one fifth of all residents of Tashkent at the time), were left without a roof over their heads.
After the earthquake, it was decided not to restore the destroyed old one-story adobe houses, but to build new modern multi-story buildings in their place.
All of the former USSR, of which Uzbekistan was then a part, helped Tashkent. Through the efforts of the union republics, several new residential districts were reconstructed and built in the city center and on free areas in the southwestern part of the city — in Chilanzar. Many streets, quarters, and houses for a long time bore the names of the cities that helped Tashkent in difficult times.
The “Courage” monument in Tashkent
Tashkent was fully restored in 3.5 years. In honor of this, the “Courage” memorial complex was erected (sculptor Dmitry Ryabichev, architects Valery Ganiev, Leon Adamov, Sabir Adylov).
The official opening of the “Courage” complex took place on May 20, 1970 (according to some sources, in 1976).
The artistic image of the monument, located on Mustaqillik Avenue, is embodied in a cube of black granite, symbolizing the earth, split by a crack representing the tragedy. On one side the date of the earthquake is carved: April 26, 1966. On the other — a clock face with hands indicating the time of the tragedy — 5:23.
The crack from the cube leads to a bronze composition depicting a family — a woman holding a child close to herself and making a protective gesture with her other hand, as if shielding the infant from danger; a man shields them both. Seven paths converge on a marble pedestal, leading to 14 steles with bas-reliefs depicting the work of builders.
During the 1966 Tashkent earthquake I was already four years old
When the earthquake occurred, I was almost four years old. By that time, the family had moved from housing in an old house on Kashgarka in the center of the capital to an apartment in a new four-story panel building in Chilanzar. The new building was not damaged, but we spent a lot of time with neighbors outside, in open fields.
I also remember that my mother had her appendix removed then, and we visited her in a permanent hospital building. She was terribly afraid that her abdomen would be cut open and a tremor would occur, after which doctors and nurses would run out of the operating room (such cases were talked about in the hospital — possibly this was untrue). Fortunately, there was no tremor during the operation, and no one ran away.