Quake leaves thousands homeless in Tajikistan

MOSCOW/DUSHANBE - Thousands of people have been left homeless in icy temperatures in the wake of a strong earthquake in the Central Asian republic of Tajikistan, reports said Sunday.

More than 1,000 buildings collapsed and streets were destroyed in the capital Dushanbe when the 5.2-magnitude quake struck Saturday, a spokesman for the rescue operation told the Interfax news agency.

According to initial findings, the epicentre of the quake was in the Pamir mountains on the border with Afghanistan. There were no reports of deaths.

An earthquake in October 2008 killed at least 100 people in the region, nearly half of them schoolchildren.