Geophysicist said about the technogenic nature of the earthquake in Kuzbass
The earthquake in the Kemerovo region that occurred last night was not natural, but technogenic in nature. This was announced to RIA Novosti by the head of the Altai-Sayan branch of the Unified Geophysical Service of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Alexander Yemanov.
According to him, the tremors are associated with the rapid extraction of coal in the southeastern part of the region. “When excavations are made, the soil is removed. Part of it is taken away, and the rest is left and something like mountains is formed. As a result, somewhere stress, pressure on the earth's crust increases on the surface, somewhere, on the contrary, weakens. and, as a rule, there is a push from below, “Yemanov explained.
The geophysicist noted that the epicenter of the earthquake was in a basin formed by sedimentary rocks at a depth of 4 km, which is uncharacteristic for natural seismic events, but normal for man-made ones. “4 kilometers is a very shallow depth, the natural depth is usually greater. There are constant earthquakes, but of low energy. They are here and there near the cuts,” Yemanov said.
The expert, in an interview with TASS, said that the geophysical service is now observing the earthquake area and does not record a large number of aftershocks.
The emergency services confirmed that the earthquake was provoked by the work of the coal industry enterprises. “Initially, there were blasting operations at the open-pit mines, but the earthquake itself is interpreted as a natural character. That is, it is already a consequence of blasting operations,” said the department of housing and communal services and the regional road complex.
An earthquake with a magnitude of 5.4 occurred in the Prokopyevsky district of the Kemerovo region on August 13 at 3:41 local time (20:41 on August 12 Moscow time). The epicenter was located near the village of Bolshaya Talda (59 km from Novokuznetsk), which houses several large coal mining enterprises. The echoes of the aftershocks were felt in Kemerovo, Novokuznetsk, Novosibirsk, and in Altai. This is the third earthquake in Kuzbass over the past two days – before that, seismologists reported tremors with a magnitude of 2.4.
The emergency services received several hundred calls from residents of the surrounding settlements. After that, local authorities began to inspect buildings and structures for damage. In Novokuznetsk, checking the consequences of the earthquake continues. According to preliminary data, no one was injured as a result of the seismic event, buildings and infrastructure facilities were not damaged. The enterprises of the region are operating normally.
Local residents wrote on social networks that they woke up from sudden shocks. Many of them noted that this is the strongest earthquake in the region in their memory.
