No casualties or destruction after quake in Almaty oblast: officials

No casualties or destruction were reported in Almaty and Almaty oblast after the recent earthquake, Tengrinews.kz reports citing representatives of Almaty emergency situations department. “The 6.6-magnitude earthquake stroke between Kegen and Narynkol villages of Almaty oblast at 10:38 p.m. local time. According to our information the epicenter had a magnitude of 7. The shocks were felt in Almaty at around the magnitude of 4. The first shock was the main one and was followed by several aftershocks. The strongest aftershock was 5.1 in magnitude,” Director of Seismology Institute Tanatkan Abakanov. He said that more aftershocks would be felt in the next several days. “We have already registered several dozens of small earthquakes,” Abakanov added. The Emergency Situations Department called Almaty and Almaty oblast residents not to panic or,get provoked and rely on the official information only. The Emergency Situations Department is working in the robust security regime. The 6.6-magnitude earthquake shook the ground 227 km from Almaty on January 28 at 22.38 Astana time. The epicenter was 227 km to the east of Almaty at the depth of 10 km. The earthquake was followed by three more quakes of increasing magnitude in Almaty Oblast according to the Seismological Research Expedition. A 4.5-magnitude earthquake was registered at 23.09 Astana time 225 km to the south-east of Almaty. Then a 4.7 earthquake was registered at 23.12 232 km to the south-east of Almaty and a 5.1 earthquake at 23.31 225 km south east of Almaty. The fourth aftershock - 4.2 in magnitude - was registered early in the morning at 05:49 a.m. Astana time 237km east of Almaty at the depth of 1km.