MOSCOW (Agence
France Presse) - Devastating earthquakes will rock three seismically
hazardous areas of Russia by 2010, in the Russian Far East, Siberia
and North Caucasus, the emergencies ministry predicted Monday.
"Before
2010 devastating earthquakes are expected" to hit the Kuril
islands and nearby Kamchatka Peninsula, the Lake Baikal region
and the North Caucasus, the ministry said in a statement received
by AFP.
There could
also be major quakes in the Far Eastern island of Sakhalin, Eastern
Siberia and the Altai region in the south of Siberia, the Russian
emergency authorities added.
Seismic instability
is expected throughout the coming year in Kamchatka (maximum measuring
7.5 on the Richter scale), in the Kuril islands (maximum measuring
8.0 on the Richter scale) and Sakhalin (maximum 7.1), they said.
In 2001, there
is a direct threat of floods to more than 40 Russian cities and
several thousand smaller population centers, according to ministry
experts.
About 500,000
hectares (1.235 million acres) could be flooded. The annual flood
damage in Russia is 3.2 billion dollars on average, the experts
said.
Next year,
floods could create "severe damage" in several regions,
in Siberia and the south, far east, center and north of Russia,
as well as the Leningrad region surrounding the second city Saint
Petersburg, they warned.
There is a
high risk of fires in 2001 in southern Siberia, the Far East,
the region around Lake Baikal and some northwestern and central
areas of Russia, according to the emergencies ministry.
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