0
A panoramic view of Almaty, Kazakhstan. The image is unrelated to the content of the article. / Getty Images Bank

A magnitude 4.2 earthquake struck Almaty, the largest city in Kazakhstan, on the morning of the 28th (local time), causing disruptions as residents evacuated. Fortunately, no casualties or facility damage were reported.

According to Kazakh media outlet Tengrinews on the same day, tremors were felt across downtown Almaty, prompting citizens in schools and offices to evacuate outdoors.

The national seismic monitoring agency under the Ministry of Emergency Situations of Kazakhstan announced that a total of three earthquakes were observed around the Almaty region on that day. Among them, the second earthquake, which occurred around 9:38 AM, was directly felt within downtown Almaty.

According to operational data from the data center of the Institute of Geophysical Research under the National Nuclear Center, the epicenter of the earthquake was located about 8 kilometers southwest of Almaty. The Ministry of Emergency Situations of Kazakhstan announced the magnitude of this earthquake as 4.2.

The first earthquake occurred around 6:32 AM on the 28th, but the shaking could not be directly felt within downtown Almaty.

At around 1:53 PM on the same day, another magnitude 4.2 earthquake occurred about 25 kilometers northwest of the village of Narynkol in the Raimbek district of Almaty Region, but this tremor also had no significant impact on downtown Almaty.

Right after the second earthquake, which was directly felt, city authorities sent emergency text alerts to citizens' mobile phones informing them of the earthquake and advising them to remain in open spaces until further instructions.

Authorities stated that inspections of key facilities and infrastructure following the earthquake revealed no damage, and no reports of casualties or building collapses were received.

Reactions from Almaty citizens varied. One resident described feeling as if a heavy object had dropped to the floor, while another mentioned barely feeling any vibration and being startled only after receiving the emergency text on their phone.

Local media also reported cases where people who did not feel the tremor panicked and rushed out of buildings all at once due to the emergency alert.

Almaty, which sits atop roughly 30 geological faults, experiences frequent seismic activity. According to the Ministry of Emergency Situations of Kazakhstan, up to 200 minor earthquakes occur annually within an 80-kilometer radius of Almaty.

                                                                                                           Kim Min-gyu