Discovery News
A magnitude
7.5 temblor hit Turkmenistan at 10:11 a.m. local time on Wednesday,
shaking a vast region for nearly two minutes. There were no immediately
available reports of casualties or injuries, but seismologists
said that substantial damages and casualties may have been caused
due to the size and location of the earthquake.
Shaking from the quake was felt across much of southern Russia
and as far away as Moscow, 1,200 miles (2,000 km) to the north.
Residents in Moscow reported their chandeliers swaying and household
objects shaking.
A spokeswoman
for the Obninsk Seismological Station of Russia's Earth Physics
Institute reported that the earthquake was centered near the city
of Balkanabat, about 250 miles (400 km) northwest of Turkmenistan's
capital, Ashgabat.
Across the
Caspian Sea, in Azerbaijan's capital city of Baku, the quake sent
residents fleeing into the streets. On Nov. 25, Baku was hit by
a magnitude 6.5 earthquake which killed 31 people. Telephone and
cellular communications in Baku were disrupted by Wednesday's
quake.
|
