Sarez Lake ( ) is a lake in Rushon District of Gorno-Badakhshan province, Tajikistan. Its length is about , its depth about a few hundred meters, its water surface elevation about above sea level, and volume of water over . The mountains around it rise over above the lake level.
The lake formed in 1911, after a great earthquake, when the Murghab River was blocked by a big landslide. Scientists believe that the landslide dam formed by the earthquake, known as the Usoi Dam, is unstable given local seismicity, and that the terrain below the lake is in danger of catastrophic flood if the dam were to fail during a future earthquake.Bolt, B.A., W.L. Horn, G.A. Macdonald and R.F. Scott, (1975) Geological hazards: earthquakes, tsunamis, volcanoes, avalanches, landslides, floods Springer-Verlag, New York, The Usoi Dam wall survived a localised 7.2 magnitude earthquake, the 2015 Tajikistan earthquake, on 7 December 2015 with no visible signs of deterioration.
Shadau Lake is a small water body southwest of the Usoi Dam and west of Sarez Lake.
Formation The formation of Sarez Lake is described in the book by Middleton and Thomas:Robert Middleton and Huw Thomas, Tajikistan and the High Pamirs, Odyssey, 2008, ,
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References
External links Map of the Usoi Dam - Sarez Lake, Scale 1:110'000 NASA Earth Observatory photo Sarez Risk Mitigation Project Sarez lake, Rogun HPP, Aral sea ...