Azernews.Az

By Nigar Orujova

The Republican Center of Seismic Service of Azerbaijan National Academy of Sciences (ANAS) has rejected reports that a strong earthquake will hit Azerbaijan's capital city of Baku.

"After the earthquake in Hajigabul, some people disseminated information that is untrue. They caused fear and panic among people. We do not know the purposes of these people, but this information negatively affects the public's mental state and health," the center said on February 13.

The center is currently monitoring seismic conditions in the country with the help of 35 telemetry seismic stations, and all the information about earthquakes is made public, it added.

"Therefore, we once again address the public, noting that no country in the world has an accurate prediction of earthquakes and their strength. Seismology has not yet reached this level. And Azerbaijan's territory, as we have repeatedly noted, is a seismic zone, and constant earthquakes take place here," the center said.

An earthquake of 5.7 magnitude on the Richter scale hit Azerbaijan's Saatli region on February 10 at 16:06 local time.

The seismic situation in Azerbaijan after the earthquake is calm, head of the center Gurban Yetirmishli said on February 11. No aftershocks were observed after the earthquake.

The earthquake occurred at the depth of 55km in the Hajigabul region, followed by strong tremors of three to five magnitude on the Richter scale across the country and even abroad. No causalities or damages have been reported.

"Azerbaijan is located in a seismically active zone. It faced more than 6,000 earthquakes last year. About four of the quakes were measured on three to four magnitude on the Richter scale. This year we had four notable quakes," Yetirmishli said.