False alert about 9-point earthquake disseminated in Sochi

On July 18, residents of Sochi received a false message about an impending earthquake with a power of 9 points, expected around the midday. The Mayor Anatoly Pakhomov has treated this information as a provocation.

The message about the earthquake was spread among citizens through phone calls and SMS-messages.

"Near Sochi three-point shocks have been recorded"

The Sochi Mayor Anatoly Pakhomov gave a refutation of this information appearing on TV with an official statement saying that the message about a possible 9-point earthquake was a provocation.

A statement about the absence of any threat also appeared on the website of the administration of Sochi made on behalf of the divisions of civil defence and emergencies. "The Division of Civil Defence and Protection of Population of the City Administration of Sochi hereby informs the public about the lack of any prediction of a possible earthquake. Citizens, in order to prevent false rumours, make use only of official forecasts of emergencies in the city of Sochi!" says the statement.

In her turn, Elena Karpovich, the head of the seismological station of Sochi, has assured that "so far, no one in the world can predict an earthquakes in advance." "Although Sochi is within a zone of seismic hazard, an earthquake of 9 points has never been recorded here," she said.

At the same time, Ms Karpovich has confirmed that on July 18 at 6:30 a.m. the Adler District recorded 3-point tremors some 20 km off the shore. However, they were unfelt for citizens.

The false message caused alarm among the population of the city. The dispatchers of the hotline of Sochi Mayor received plenty of calls demanding to confirm or refute the rumours.

Residents left buildings themselves

Employees of the offices located in high-rise buildings, such as "Alexandria", ran out into the street, so that not to stay inside at the time of an emergency. The panic burst out in the court of the Tsentralny District, where a rumour was spread about the need for emergency evacuation. The people there also left the building, the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent reports.

At the time of the expected earthquake, mobile network were overloaded; and townspeople could not use their cell phones. Later, officials of telephone companies explained that this was due to massive calls.