Baku, Azerbaijan, Sept. 4
By Elmir Murad - Trend:
Aftershocks are expected to occur in several days in the earthquake zone in the Shaki district, the head of the Republican Seismic Survey Center of Azerbaijan National Academy of Sciences, Gurban Yetirmishli told Trend Sept. 4.
"An earthquake measuring seven on the Richter scale hit Shaki," Yetirmishli recalled. "Its epicenter was in the southwest - in a territory near the village of Gozlu Bulag in Shaki."
He added that such strong earthquakes, along with cracks on walls of houses, can also cause the destruction of old buildings.
Yetirmishli further said that currently a commission of the Ministry of Emergency Situations is examining the situation on the site.
He said the employees of the Republican Seismic Survey Center are also in the earthquake zone.
Yetirmishli also said special equipment will be installed in the districts.
"With help of it [the equipment], we'll be able to determine the scale of destruction and to examine the earthquake that happened," he said, adding, "The new equipment will facilitate our work."
A strong earthquake hit Shaki on September 4, at 09:49 local time (UTC/GMT +5 hours).
Its strength in the epicenter measured seven on Richter scale, while the adjacent districts of Azerbaijan felt tremors measuring 6, 5, 4 and 3 points.
The earthquake's hypocenter (the point where it originated) was at a depth of 13 kilometers, while its magnitude was 5.9.
Edited by SI