Sarez Lake

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Sarez Lake
Coordinates 38°12′06″N, 72°45′27″ECoordinates: 38°12′06″N, 72°45′27″E
Primary sources Murghab River
Primary outflows Murghab River
Basin countries Tajikistan
Max-length 55.8 km
Max-width 3.3 km
Surface area c. 80 km²
Max-depth 505 m
Water volume 16.074 km³
Surface elevation 3263 m

Sarez Lake is a lake in Pamir, Tajikistan. Length about 55,8 km, depth few hundred meters, water surface elevation about 3.263 m over sea level. The mountains around come up more than 2.416 m over 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 natural 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.

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