Azernews.Az

By Mushvig Mehdiyev

An earthquake hits Azerbaijan's Gabala region at 06:38 a.m local time on September 29, Republican Seismological Service Center reported.

The epicenter of the quake was about 22 kilometers to the north-east of Gabala city. It occurred at a depth of 10 kilometers. The earthquake was measured 5.4 on Richter scale.

The second earthquake in Gabala occurred at 09:20 a.m local time, 25 kilometers to north-east of the region. The epicentrum of the 3.3 magnitude quake was located at a depth of 11 kilometers. The tremors were not noticed.

Gabala city is located 220 kilometers to west of Baku.

One more earthquake was registered in Azerbaijan's Lerik region. The 3.3 magnitude tremors hit the region at 09:20 a.m local time, 22 kilometers to north-east of the region at a depth of 20 kilometers.

Republican Seismological Service Center Head Gurban Yetirmishli told local media the tremors were registered based on tectonic fractures.

"Azerbaijan is located in a seismic zone. Earthquakes are normal for a country located on Alpine-Himalayan seismic belt," he said.

Yetirmishli noted that the quake registered in Gabala was quite strong, but not destructive. He said the earthquake just caused cracks on old buildings in Gabala and Khinalug.

"Energy release caused by the earthquake is currently underway. Little tremors are occurring because of it. Several of them are palpable. Aftershocks will continue. But there would be no strong earthquake, " Yetirsmishli noted.

Yetirmishli earlier noted that about 3, 4, 5 and sometimes 8, 10 aftershocks are recorded in the country every day.

Shamakhi and Ismayilli are the most seismically active regions in Azerbaijan in terms of the number of earthquakes. The list also includes Ganja and Talish regions.