Earthquakes in Dagestan, unfortunately, cannot be called a rare occurrence. The Republic of Dagestan is located in the very center of the North Caucasian seismically active zone. Recently, earthquakes in Dagestan did not bring destruction and human casualties. Many tremors were recorded only thanks to special equipment, and they were not felt by a person. Is such a behavior of an element a reason to get rid of anxiety or a calm before a storm?
Earthquake in Dagestan on June 16
On June 16, news about new tremors in the republic appeared in the news feed. This time the epicenter of the earthquake in Dagestan was located in the Caspian Sea at a distance of 30 kilometers from the capital of the republic. Tremors were recorded at about 5 pm Moscow time, and their strength reached 4 points on the Richter scale. According to eyewitnesses of what happened, they felt tremors. But fortunately, there were no destruction or casualties. But the earthquakes in Dagestan were not always so "sparing."
From the history of natural disasters
The last earthquake in Dagestan, which was a real catastrophic blow to the elements, occurred in May 1970. It can be safely called the largest earthquake in the Caucasus. The earthquake zone in Dagestan covered an area of 1000 square meters. km, and the power of earth tremors at the epicenter reached 9 points. The natural disaster resulted in 22 completely destroyed settlements. Another 257 were partially destroyed, about 45, 000 people were left without their homes. But the most terrible loss was human life. The earthquake claimed the lives of 31 people.
What Seismologists Warn About
Scientists studying the behavior of seismically active zones argue that the danger of hearing the Earth’s “pulse” again is high, and, in their opinion, an earthquake in Dagestan is expected again in the near future. The probability that tremors will occur here again is very high. In seismology, the law of repeatability exists. On average, this is a time span of forty years. And if we take the last large-scale earthquake of 1970 as a reference point, this time threshold has already been passed, and the likelihood of a new revelry in the elements of such strength only increases every year.
In the last decade, the seismic process has deepened, in which the center of the Earth’s oscillation has dropped to sixty kilometers in depth, and this is another fact that indicates in favor of a large tectonic event in the future.
Will Dagestan survive the new natural disaster?
The situation is complicated by the fact that the territory of Dagestan has become more densely populated. Makhachkala became entirely multi-storey. Many questions also arise about how the buildings that were built in recent decades will behave. How were sites selected for their construction, how was the design carried out, were seismological safety measures taken into account? It is not a secret that in the capital of the Republic of Makhachkala, decisions on the city planning are very poorly thought out in this regard. In Makhachkala itself, and in many regional centers, there are practically no open areas on which, if an earthquake occurred in Dagestan, one could remain in relative safety. In case of emergency, traffic jams and congestion will make the evacuation of the population difficult. A time bomb is a huge number of gas stations in the immediate vicinity of residential areas. The construction of hydropower plants and the development of deep oil wells do not add optimism.
What can and should be done?
Currently, emergency, which includes earthquakes, are dealt with by local, regional, and federal departments. In the republic, it is advisable to create a center that analyzes all incoming information and promptly responds. In the near future, it is necessary to conduct a total survey and strengthen the strength of building structures, especially those built with a high deficit of seismic resistance. In the long term, there should not be a single structure on the territory of Dagestan that could not withstand an earthquake of 8-9 points. It is impossible to predict and prevent an earthquake, but to reduce the size of losses to a minimum person can do.
