Sarez Lake
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Sarez Lake | |
---|---|
Coordinates | |
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.