Earth tremors may continue in Kazakhstan, no reason for concern

ASTANA, May 2 (Itar-Tass) - No devastating earthquakes are expected in
the Almaty region, southern Kazakhstan. There are no reasons for concern
and panic, the press service of the republic's Emergencies Ministry said
with reference to the information from the Institute of Seismology at the
Education and Science Ministry.
Over the past 24 hours ten quakes hit the Central Asian republic. The
epicentre was located 74 kilometres northeast of Almaty at the depth of 4
kilometres.
The first quake measuring 5.4 points on the Richter scale took place
at 06:31 Moscow time on May 1. The size of other quakes did not exceed 4.8
points.
"It is not ruled out that earth tremors will soon continue with a
declining strength," the Emergencies Ministry's press service said.
Specialists of the Emergencies Ministry monitor the housing sector,
facilities where poisonous substances are stored, water supply units and
hydro-technical facilities.
"No malfunctions in the systems' operations, no rise in water level in
river beds were registered. All incident response services are on alert,"
the source said.
Almaty with a 1.5 million population is Kazakhstan's biggest city. It
is located in a nine-point quake prone zone.
Three devastating quakes rocked the outskirts of Almaty in 1887, 1889
and 1911.