At least 13 people died and dozens were injured as A 6.2 quake hit Central Asia's Fergana Valley. The quake struck at 1:35 a.m. local time with the epicenter just inside Kyrgyzstan's Batken region, but neighboring Uzbekistan bore the brunt of the damage. The quake struck at a depth of just 9.2 kilometers, shaking Fergana, a city of 200,000 people just 42 kilometers from the epicenter."According to initial information, 13 people were killed as a result of the damage to the houses," the Uzbek emergencies ministry said in a statement. "The emergency services provided medical assistance to 86 people and 35 people were taken to nearby hospitals."
Residents of the Kyrgyz city of Osh, the principal city in the country's south, said that that the earthquake caused panic in the city. Tremors were felt as far away as the capital, Bishkek.
The quake was also registered at 6.0 in Tajikistan's second city of Khujand, with 150,000 people. In Khujand, a man threw himself out of a second-floor window, killing himself. The 43-year-old man thought that he would live by jumping out the window during the earthquake.
"Maybe he was sleepy, maybe he figured 'if everything collapses, I will remain under ruins,' and so he jumped out and died," a source in the Tajik interior ministry said.