Last night, Almaty city experienced an earthquake with a magnitude of 6.7 on the MPV scale. The tremors were felt not only in Almaty but also in Astana and five surrounding regions, QazMonitor reports citing the Ministry of Emergency Situations of Kazakhstan.
The earthquake, which occurred on January 23 at 00:09:02 Astana time (repeated at 00:42:32 - M2 in Almaty, and at 01:36:44 - not felt), had its epicenter located 264 km to the southeast of Almaty city, at the border of Kyrgyzstan and China. The Ministry reported the energy class of this earthquake as 15.1, with a magnitude MPV of 6.7. The coordinates of the epicenter are 41.22°N, 78.65°E, and the depth is recorded at 5 km. Information about sensitivity on the MSK-64 scale indicates 5 MSK for Almaty and 2 MSK for Shymkent.
The seismic activity extended beyond Almaty, reaching Astana and five regions: Almaty, East Kazakhstan, Zhambyl, Zhetysu, and Karagandy.
In response to the earthquake, a republican operational headquarters has been established at the Ministry's Crisis Management Center, led by the Minister of Emergency Situations, Syrym Sharipkhanov.
The Ministry reported, "In videoconferencing mode, hearings of the regions have been organized with the development of appropriate instructions aimed at stabilizing the current situation. Similar headquarters have been deployed at the territorial level. These headquarters have organized hotlines with the involvement of psychologists from the Ministry of Emergency Situations, territorial subdivisions, and the Center for Disaster Medicine. By order of the Minister for Emergency Situations, forces and means have been put on high alert, command and staff vehicles have been deployed, and the grouping of rescue units is in readiness to respond."
