One third of Kazakhstan residents are not ready for natural disasters

One third of Kazakhstan respondents (37 percent) do not know what to do in case of natural disasters. This was revealed by the sociological survey called Social health in Kazakhstan cities held by the Institute of Political Solutions (IPS) in 16 Kazakhstan cities, Tengrinews.kz reports. Residents of West Kazakhstan and Almaty acknowledge that the region is unprepared for a dynamic response to emergency situations. 41.2 percent think that their knowledge is enough to surviving. Only one per every ten people made the disaster preparedness kit and is ready for emergency situations. East Kazakhstan oblast turned out to be the most prepared with the numbers four times higher than average. 5.4-magnitude earthquake hit Almaty on May 1 and was followed by many aftershocks during a day. In the evening of the same day information on possible devastating earthquake created a panic in the city. Only at midnight the authorities organized a press-conference and excluded the possibility of a 9-magnitude earthquake. Three days after Kazakhstan Emergency Situations Ministry commented the information delay saying that it happened because for lack of statements from the Seismology Institute of Kazakhstan Ministry of Education and Science.