Sarez Lake
Sarez Lake (Russian: Сарезское озеро; Tajik: Сарез кӯл, romanized: Sarez Kūl) is a lake in Rushon District of Gorno-Badakhshan province, Tajikistan. Length about 75.8 kilometres (47.1 mi), depth few hundred meters, water surface elevation about 3,263 metres (10,705 ft) above sea level and volume of water is more than 16 cubic kilometres (3.8 cu mi). The mountains around rise more than 2,300 metres (7,500 ft) above the lake level.
| Sarez Lake | |
|---|---|
Usoi Dam separating Sarez (right) and Shadau (left) lakes | |
Sarez Lake | |
| Coordinates | 38°12′06″N 72°45′27″E |
| Primary inflows | Murghab River |
| Primary outflows | Murghab River |
| Basin countries | Tajikistan |
| Max. length | 75.8 kilometres (47.1 mi) |
| Max. width | 3.3 kilometres (2.1 mi) |
| Surface area | 79.7 square kilometres (30.8 sq mi) |
| Average depth | 201.8 metres (662 ft) |
| Max. depth | 505 metres (1,657 ft) |
| Water volume | 16.074 cubic kilometres (3.856 cu mi) |
| Shore length1 | 162 kilometres (101 mi) |
| Surface elevation | 3,263 metres (10,705 ft) |
| 1 Shore length is not a well-defined measure. | |
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. The Usoi Dam wall survived a localised 7.2 magnitude earthquake, the 2015 Tajikistan earthquake, on the 7th 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.