This catalogue is the result of a research co-operation between Bauhaus-University Weimar (former HAB Weimar) and the Kazakh Research and Experimental Design Institute of Aseismic Engineering and Architecture Almaty (KazNIISSA).

In 1988 a German-Kazakh research group was established to co-operate in the field of engineering analysis of structural earthquake damage and to develop manuals in a catalogue-like form. It was intended to include damaging earthquakes from the territory of the former Soviet Union into this work. Furthermore, it was decided that events of moderate intensity should be incorporated into the field investigations, recognizing the need of systematic documentation of available information and the benefit of the lessons those events could exhibit, practically. Such an comparatively moderate earthquake occurred on June 14, 1990 in the Eastern Kazakh region near the town of Zayzan and was followed by an strong aftershock of similar intensity on August 03, 1990.

This catalogue can be regarded as a model catalogue for the systematic engineering analysis of earthquake damage. Elaborated tools and manuals for the re-interpretation of damage patterns and the determination of main damage contributing factors are applied to these events by the German-Kazakh research team and were presented also during the 9th European Conference on Earthquake Engineering (1990, Moscow) and the 10th World Conference on Earthquake Engineering (1992, Madrid).