Since Saturday, several earthquakes jolted Armenia with the largest—4.7 magnitude—recorded on Saturday afternoon local time, while another, a 2.4 magnitude tremor, registered on Monday evening.
The epicenter for the 4.7 magnitude on Saturday was eight kilometers southeast of Yerevan, according to the national seismic protection agency, which said tremors were also felt in five of the country’s ten provinces.
Seismologists in Armenia have warned that aftershocks would be common, while Armenian authorities urged residents to not panic and denied social media speculation about a major tremor predicted for Armenia.
“The Seismic Protection Service of the Ministry of Emergency Situations is once again officially denying this information,” the ministry spokesperson told Armenpress, noting that the reports on a forthcoming major quake are fake news. “Note that now the stress of the earthquake’s source continues getting relieved.”
Ministry of Emergency Situations spokesperson Anna Baghdasaryan told Armenpress that on Saturday alone 100 aftershocks were recorded after the earthquake. “The tremors are gradually decreasing, and the seismic activity in the Parakar source is decreasing. The aftershocks were of very low magnitude and the population didn’t feel them.”
Nevertheless, the chance that minor and moderate earthquakes in Armenia and the entire region aren’t ruled out shouldn’t be ignored, she warned. “Not only in Armenia, but in the entire region the seismic activity remains and analyses shows that minor and moderate intensity earthquakes could happen,” Baghdasaryan said.
