A strong earthquake jolted the Uzbek capital Tashkent on Friday, a witness said.
The quake occurred at 1:26 p.m. (0826 GMT) and was felt in the centre of Tashkent, Reuters reported.
"It nearly threw me off my feet," said the witness, adding that he saw bricks falling from the walls of buildings and people running through the streets in confusion.
Officials could not be reached for comment.
Tashkent, a city of 2 million, is located in a seismically active part of Central Asia. In 1966, it was flattened by a 7.5 earthquake when hundreds of thousands of people were left homeless. (Writing by Maria Golovnina; Editing by Charles Dick)