Scientists denied rumors about devastating earthquakes in Almaty next week

To prevent gossips, Director of Kazakhstan Seismology Institute Tanatkan Abakanov said that no devastating earthquakes are foreseen in Almaty in the coming week, Tengrinews.kz reports. “No hot spots of strong and devastating earthquakes of over 6-magnitude intensity are expected to emerge in or near Almaty in the coming week. If the situation changes, we will notify the government,” Abakanov said. He also explained the nature of shocks that were recently registered in Almaty oblast. “Weak earthquakes are just a aftershocks, same as we experienced after May 1.” Minimization of negative consequences of devastating earthquakes will be discussed by leading seismology experts at the UNESCO conference in Chile. Tanatkan Abakanov was invited to take part. “ We will make certain researches and will offer recommendations to the governments of Latin American countries. We will discuss a wide range of problems of the short term period. The conference will be attended by representatives of 10 countries and the UNESCO management,” he added. Last time the shocks were registered in Almaty at night of July 22. Their magnitude was 3.7. The epicenter was 16 km north-west of Almaty, at the depth of 8 km. The magnitude felt in Almaty was 2 Richter scale. There were no calls from Almaty residents to the Emergency Situations Department regarding any destructions or damages.