Monday, February 14 2022 16:54

ArmInfo. After yesterday's earthquake on the Armenian- Georgian border, 13 km northeast of the village of Bavra, with a magnitude of 5.4, 165 aftershocks were  registered, the strongest of which was a magnitude of 3. Sos  Margaryan, Director at Western Survey for the Seismic Protection  Service of Armenia stated this on February 14 at a press conference,  referring to the earthquake that occurred on the evening of February  13.

At the same time, he stated that aftershocks are typical for such  earthquakes. "If we compare it with the earthquakes of previous years  in Armenia, which we qualified as mild, then this is already  moderately strong. And it is possible that the aftershocks after this  earthquake will last a little longer. For comparison, I will say that  after the one registered in August last year, including in the same  place (near Javakhk) of an earthquake with a magnitude of 4.5, on the  first day there were 69 aftershocks, and on the 40th day their number  reached 223 aftershocks, and in this case, since the magnitude was  higher - 165 aftershocks," Markaryan said.

Regarding the consequences of the earthquake, the representative of  the department mentioned that one or two stones could have fallen  from the old buildings, it does not mean that there was destruction.  He noted that, for example, strong tremors were felt somewhere in  Yerevan, somewhere they were not felt at all.

As for the observance of the norms of construction of new buildings  in the republic, Markaryan said that during the Soviet years the  buildings in the capital of Armenia were built with the magnitude of  an 8- magnitude earthquake, but later it turned out that it was  necessary to build for a magnitude of 9-10, therefore, buildings in  Yerevan vulnerable to a powerful earthquake.  At the same time, he  mentioned that their specialists are involved in the development  project carried out today, however this issue is mainly controlled by  the Urban Development Committee. Markaryan expressed confidence that  the construction companies in this issue mainly observe the  established norms.

It should be noted that, according to the corrected data of the RA  Ministry of Emergency Situations an earthquake with a magnitude of  5.4 hit the Armenian-Georgian border, 13 km northeast of the  settlement of Bavra. Armenian seismic services registered shocks at  22.25 local time. The earthquake was located in Georgia-Armenia, at a  depth of 10 km. The tremor measured magnitude 6-7 points at the  epicenter.  An earthquake of 6-7 points was felt in the Shirak  region, 5-6 points in the Lori and Aragatsotn regions of Armenia, in  Yerevan - 3 points.