context: The Tashkent earthquake is a catastrophic earthquake (magnitude 5.2), which occurred on April 26, 1966 at 5 hours 23 minutes in Tashkent. With a relatively small magnitude (M = 5.2), due to the small depth (from 3 to 8 km) of the occurrence of the source, it caused 8–9-point (on a 12-point scale MSK-64) earthquake concussions and significant damage to construction sites downtown. The zone of maximum destruction was about ten square kilometers. On the outskirts of the capital, the seismic effect barely reached 6 points. Strong soil vibrations with a frequency of 2-3 Hz lasted 10-12 seconds. A relatively small number of victims (8 dead and several hundred injured) in a city with a million people owe the predominance of vertical (rather than horizontal) seismic vibrations, which prevented the complete collapse of even dilapidated mud houses. An analysis of the causes of injuries showed that in 10% of cases they were obtained from collapsing walls and roofs, 35% from falling structural parts of buildings and structures (plaster, gypsum molding, bricks, etc.) and household items. In 55% of the causes of injuries were the unconscious behavior of the victims themselves, due to panic and fear (jumping from the upper floors, bruises on various objects and the like). However, subsequently the number of deaths increased as a result of heart attacks during the period of occurrence of even minor repeated tremors.
question: How long does an earthquake last on average?
answers.text: 10-12 seconds