Likelihood of quakes in Armenia low - seismologist
YEREVAN, February 6. /ARKA/. Armenia is quite far away from the epicenter of the earthquakes that hit southeast regions of Turkey and northern Syria today early morning killing hundreds of people, therefore it cannot affect seismic situation in Armenia, Sergey Nazaretyan, a chief expert at Territorial Seismic Protection Service, told Armenpress news agency.
A 7.8 magnitude earthquake shook Turkey today morning followed by another strong quake which was felt in several provinces in the region, knocking down a number of buildings, reports said. The quake was centered about 33 kilometres (20 miles) from Gaziantep. It was felt also in Armenia.
"According to the latest information, the magnitude of the first earthquake in Turkey was 7.8. For comparison, the Spitak quake (in 1988 that killed 25,000 people in Armenia) was 7.0 magnitude," Nazaretyan said.
Nazaretyan said since the depth of the earthquakes' focus was 7-10 km the scale of destruction will be very large.
"Losses for Turkey and Syria will be very heavy both in human and material terms and the death toll will be rising. There are also fatalities in the north-western part of Syria as far as Aleppo," he said.
The seismologist stressed that the earthquake was caused by the East Anatolian fault, which stretches from Cyprus to Tbilisi, Georgia, through southeastern Turkey.
"The East Anatolian fault is known to have the potential to cause strong earthquakes and is inferior to the North Anatolian fault. One of the branches of North Anatolian fault stretches from Ani in Turkey to Gyumri in Armenia and then to Spitak focal zone, but the probability that this branch will trigger a strong earthquake in the territory of Armenia is very low, it is almost impossible," the seismologist said.
Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan offered today assistance to people in Turkey and Syria who suffered from the powerful earthquakes.
'Saddened by the news of the devastating earthquake in Turkiye & Syria that resulted in the loss of so many lives. Our deepest condolences to the families of the victims and we wish a speedy recovery to the injured. Armenia is ready to provide assistance,' Pashinyan said in a tweet.-0-
