DUSHANBE, July 23 (Reuters) - An earthquake and an unrelated mudslide killed a total of 12 people in Tajikistan over the weekend, the Emergencies Ministry said on Monday.

A ministry spokesman said 9 people died in a mudslide in the north of the mountainous nation bordering Afghanistan late on Sunday.

Separately, an earthquake measuring about five on the Richter scale killed three people and destroyed buildings and bridges in the far east of the Central Asian state.

Tajikistan is an impoverished, earthquake-prone country. A tremor measuring 5.5 on the Richter scale killed three children and left more than a thousand people without shelter in the south of Tajikistan a year ago.

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