Official: Earthquake in Azerbaijan lasted 50 seconds, following by 5 aftershocks

Director General of the Republican Center for Seismological Service under Azerbaijan National Academy of Sciences Gurban Yetirmishli has said that the earthquake that occurred this morning in Azerbaijan lasted 50 seconds.

Five aftershocks were recorded after the earthquake, he said at a briefing, Report informs.

"There is no need to panic because of the earthquake. Because the earthquake that happened today was not strong," Yetirmishli said.

According to him, as a result of the recorded aftershocks, energy discharges have gone: "This means that shocks of the same magnitude are not expected again, reductions will be observed until the end of the day. Today, the earthquake was felt only in some areas, mainly in multi-storey residential buildings."

Meanwhile, employees of the regional centres of the Azerbaijani Ministry of Emergency Situations inspected the areas after the earthquake and found no ruins.

Elkhan Asadov, the deputy head of the State Construction Safety Control Agency under the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said that regional centres have not received any information due to the destruction caused by the earthquake: "Our relevant institutions are continuing their work as usual."

On December 7, at 08:15:41 local time, an earthquake was recorded in the Caspian Sea, 51 km northeast of Altiagac station. The earthquake was felt up to 5 magnitude in some places, and up to 3 in some places in Altyagaz, Siyazan, Guba, Gusar, Khachmaz, Shabran, Gobustan, Absheron peninsula. The depth of the earthquake is 70 km.