Recent earthquake in Armenia’s Gegharkunik province damages 82 buildings

p

YEREVAN, August 14. /ARKA/. A recent earthquake in Armenia's Gegharkunik province caused damage to 82 residential buildings and other structures, Interior Ministry spokesperson Narek Sargsyan reported on Wednesday./pp

The earthquake, with a magnitude of 4.2, occurred on August 12 at 2:02 AM local time (10:02 PM GMT) and was centered 9 km northwest of the town of Martuni. The quake had a depth of 10 km, with the intensity reaching 5-6 on the Richter scale at the epicenter. It was felt in Gegharkunik with a strength of 5, in Kotayk Province at 4, and in Yerevan at 2-3./pp

Following the earthquake, the head of the Martuni community formed a joint commission with the Rescue Service. Since the earthquake, the Crisis Management Center of the Ministry of Internal Affairs has received about 120 reports of aftershocks and damage. The commission is currently focused on the village of Yeranos, Sargsyan stated during a press conference on Wednesday./pp

In Yeranos, 56 houses sustained wall cracks, and stones fell from the walls of four barns. Additionally, 22 residential buildings and structures, including a school and kindergarten in Yeranos and two houses in Tsovasar, were damaged. Cracks also appeared in the walls of the school, church, and cultural center in the village of Tsakkar. Sargsyan noted that the assessment of the damage is ongoing./p br