Category: research updates

The Earthquakes in Central Asia team were in Kyrgyzstan from the 1^st-14^th August undertaking fieldwork with colleagues from the Institute of Seismology in Bishkek. This year we took the opportunity to complete some earlier projects and to begin pilot studies in new regions. For me, personally, it was an opportunity to revisit some of my favourite places in Kyrgyzstan, many of which I have not seen for many years. The work was performed within our on-going projects with the UK Foreign, Commonwealth, and Development Office Climate Energy and Water Security in Central Asia Programme, and the Willis Research Network at WTW. In these programmes we are assessing earthquake and landslide-related hazards to major infrastructure projects, and also undertaking programmes of training and support for researchers from the central Asian countries.

The Active Tectonics and Earthquakes Team in Oxford Earth Sciences were honoured to host a delegation of our collaborators for a week in April 2026. We were joined by colleagues from the Kazakh National Data Center (KNDC) of the National Nuclear Center in Kazakhstan, and the Institutes of Seismology in Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan, and the Institute of Geology, Earthquake Engineering, and Seismology in Tajikistan. This was an important opportunity for discussion of progress in existing projects and for brainstorming of ideas for the future.

During our November 2025 workshop in Saty, Kazakhstan, we organised for a documentary to be made, explaining what we do and why it is important for earthquake hazard assessment. The documentary is in Russian (inc Russian subtitles), with some English dialogue.

We have also produced a summary and recommendations letter, to capture the main points raised in discussions and the outcomes of the workshop. You can view and download the document below

As part of an ongoing programme funded by the UK FCDO we undertook a field workshop in Kazakhstan, 10-20^th November, which had the aims of 1) Provision training in making field-based earthquake geology observations, 2) Providing a forum for discussion of national priorities and networking, 3) Looking for opportunities for further work in the central Asian countries related to active fault mapping and characterization, and means of identifying and monitoring regions of landslide hazard.

The workshop took place in Saty, near the Kolsai national park. This is also the epicentral zone of the magnitude 8+ 1889 Chilik earthquake, and we were able to spend much of our time out in the field, gaining experience of mapping and site selection, surveying with drones, paleoseismic trench interpretation, and sampling for a range of quaternary dating techniques. We combined the field activities with analysis of the data, formal lectures, and conference-style presentations. 

We report on initial results from a new project providing up-to-date active fault maps and earthquake potential in the vicinity of proposed hydropower plants in central Kyrgyzstan. The project includes primary research and a series of training and networking activities. It is funded through the UK Foreign, Commonwealth, and Development Office (FCDO).

Though most of our work is focused in the earthquake-prone regions of Asia, many of the methods we employ have general applicability, and there are many similarities in the landscape and structural development along major compressional mountain ranges worldwide. Last year we were contacted by Prof. Afaf Amine from Mohammad V University in Rabat, Morocco, who invited our team to visit and help define a programme of active fault studies around the Atlas mountains.

In a new article for the Royal Society of Asian Affairs blog, Richard Walker uses examples largely from Iran to talk through some of the reasons why populations are often focussed in regions of earthquake hazard, and why there is an urgent need to increase resilience.

Earthquake Hazard in Asia: A Growing Problem – The Royal Society for Asian Affairs