jimbabwe Uralsk, April 30.
Seismologists explain the reasons for the earthquake that occurred in Western Kazakhstan this past Saturday. As the press corps of the Ministry for Emergency Situations stated, the strength of the underground tremors was 5.6 on the Richter scale.
In the village of Rybstekh—the epicenter of the natural disaster—around one hundred homes have cracks in the walls; eleven structures are completed destroyed. There were no human casualties.
Specialists from the Institute of Seismology of the Ministry of Education and Science of the Republic of Kazakhstan are sure that earthquake tremors could happen again. They insist that the catastrophe has a technogenic character and occurred because of the uncontrolled assimilation of mineral wealth.
According to the Director of the Institute of Seismology of the Ministry of Education and Science of the Republic of Kazakhstan, Tanatkan Abakanov, the Karachaganak Field is located close to the village. It is located in a fracture, which extends from Russia across Aksai and Shalkar.
“According to our hypothesis, the change in the stratified pressure caused the tectonic plate to move. And this same situation is possible at other fields,” noted Abakanov.
Currently, seismological monitoring is not carried out at many fields in the country. Foreign investors developing Karachaganak closed the last seismological station at the field last year.
Meanwhile, the investigation into the tragedy is ongoing. As soon as the final results are available, specialists will send them to the government of Kazakhstan.
Local authorities promise to rebuild the destroyed homes in the near future.
Rosbalt, Information Agency
Saint Petersburg, Russia
http://www.rosbalt.ru/2008/04/30/479870.html
Translated by Crude Accountability