DUSHANBE, July 20, 2011, Asia-Plus – A tremor measuring 4.0 on a 12-point scale jolted Dushanbe early Wednesday morning, at 0.35 am, according to the Dushanbe seismological station.

The tremor could be felt in some other regions of Tajikistan as well.

“The epicenter of the earthquake was located in Kyrgyzstan, 280 kilometers northeast of Dushanbe and in the epicenter, the earthquake’s magnitude was 6.0-7.0 on the 12-point scale, the source said, noting that no injured or damage was reported.

In the meantime, Reuters reported today that a powerful earthquake hit Central Asia''s densely populated Ferghana valley early on Wednesday, shaking homes and sending residents of several Uzbek and Kyrgyz cities onto the streets in panic.

According to Reuters, the U.S. Geological Survey said the 6.1 magnitude earthquake occurred 17.8 kilometers underground, about 42 kilometers southwest of Ferghana, a city in the east of Uzbekistan in an area close to the border with Kyrgyzstan.  It had earlier reported the earthquake at magnitude 6.2, at a depth of 9.2 kilometers.  There were no immediate reports of casualties.

Earthquakes are frequent in Central Asia, a strategic and mineral-rich region of mountain and steppe between Afghanistan, Iran, Russia and China.

In 2008, a powerful earthquake killed more than 70 people in Kyrgyzstan. In 1966, the Uzbek capital Tashkent was flattened by a 7.5 earthquake that left hundreds of thousands of people homeless. A 6 magnitude quake rocked Tashkent in 2008 but there was no damage.