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Baikal Put Fear On Earth
Eastern Siberia endured yesterday the strongest earthquake of recent years. Its hypocenter was at 30km to the south-east of Baikalsk and intensity of the earth tremors in Irkutsk was from 6 to 7. There were no casualties and material losses, and although of less intensity, the earthquake may repeat in a day or two.
The Irkutsk Seismological Station registered the earthquake of 10 in the hypocenter at around 10:35 a.m. local time. The closest town, Baikalsk endured tremors of 8. Irkutsk that is located 150km from the focus had from 6 to 7 and the tremors didn’t exceed 5 in Angarsk, 3 to 4 in Ulan-Ude and 1 to 2 in Chita.
The wave reached Central Siberia. The tremors of 1 to 2 were felt in Kemerovo that is located more than 1,500km from the Lake of Baikal. In Irkutsk, the second wave of 6-intensity was registered in six minutes after the first one and the weakest third wave was felt at around 11:00 a.m. local time.
Baikal last experienced the earthquake of similar intensity far back in 1999; the focus was 22km from Listvyanka and the magnitude reached 7.8.
The earthquakes are frequent in Baikal, up to 2,000 a year, but they are usually weak and noticed only by the seismological experts, who attribute their frequency to the movement of tectonic plate below the lake.
As to Irkutsk, no victims were reported. The authorities announced that the city successfully survived the natural disaster in three hours after the earthquake.
www.kommersant.com
All the Article in Russian as of Aug. 28, 2008
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