The Usoi Dam is a natural landslide dam along the Murghab River in Tajikistan. At 567 metres (1,860 ft) high, it is the tallest dam in the world, either natural or man-made. The dam was created on February 18, 1911, when the 7.4-Ms Sarez earthquake caused a massive landslide that blocked the flow of the river.

The Bartang is a river of Central Asia, and is a tributary to the Panj which itself is a tributary to the Amu Darya. In its upper reaches, it is also known as the Murghab and Aksu; it flows through the Wakhan in Afghanistan, then through the Rushon District of the Gorno-Badakhshan autonomous region, Tajikistan. The river is 528 kilometres (328 mi) long and has a basin area of 24,700 square kilometres (9,500 sq mi).