Very strong shallow dangerous earthquake in Amur area, Russia – many aftershocks are reported

Last update: October 15, 2011 at 11:53 am by By

October 14, 2011 By

Earthquake overview : A 5.9 magnitude strong earthquake hit Amurskaya Oblast, Russia. The hypocenter was located at 13.8 km depth. The epicenter was close to Skovordino a town with over 10,000 inhabitants.

“I have Felt it” Reports –> see below + Let us know “how you have felt this earthquake”
To read the full story as it happened, we advise our readers to start at the lower part of the page (earthquake data).

Keep this page open or return regularly as we will be back with more details when they become available

Village and landscape in the earthquake area - image courtesy Tanya Konchik

UPDATE:  We have the pleasure to report that after checking our many sources, NO damage or injuries have been reported for this  earthquake.

UPDATE: Some of the rails in the earthquake area are damaged not only by the mainshock but also by the aftershocks . An emergency repair crew has been busy all day long to inspect the rails and to repair what is necessary.

UPDATE 10:54 UTC : We have found no evidence yet of serious damage and/or injuries

UPDATE: Authorities are talking about “a wave of aftershocks“. People walking in the streets of Chita said that “The buildings were moving objects“.

UPDATE: The power supply was temporarily down because of the failure of 2 power substations at Bam. 4 hours 25 minutes later evrything was back to normal.

UPDATE: The earthquake has been called Amur earthquake by local authorities.

UPDATE:  According to experts, the epicenter of the earthquake was located 7 km east of the village Tahtamygda Skovorodinsky district, 134 km southwest of Tynda

UPDATE:  * The power supply has been fixed, however as they expect new tremors, delays are expected.
* PAGER has updated the shaking damage estimate to be around $2-3 million (median estimate) .

UPDATE: The Russian Ministry for Emergency operations  reports that :  the  earthquake occurred in the Amur region, some 20 km from Skovorodino, the end point of the current 600,000 barrels/day ESPO pipeline where crude is loaded into railroad tanks for further transportation to Kozmino. Workers who are inspecting the pipeline have not yet reported any damage yet.

UPDATE: GDACS has a very good population distribution estimate based on the epicenter of USGS (which differs not a lot from the Russian Academy) :
2 people are living within a radius of 1 km around the epicenter
78 people are living within a radius of 2 km
994 people are living within a radius of 5 km
2,524 people are living within a radius of 10 km
3,804 people are living within a radius of 20 km
17,404 people are living within a radius of 50 km
35,891 people are living within a radius of 100 km
198,771 people are living within a radius of 200 km

UPDATE: Serious damage is reported from the local heating hydrocentral in Skovorodino as one of the walls collapsed.  In Tynda people were evacuated because  of the danger of collapsing weakened houses by the earthquake. Transneft company stopped temporarily the oil supply for China because of some damage in the technical equipment.

UPDATE:  We have added the information page of the Russian Academy of Sciences in the links section at the bottom of this page. The Russian Academy of sciences report a Magnitude of 6.0 (Mb) at a depth of 15 km. This is the epicenter as calculated by the Russian Academy of Sciences.

UPDATE:  Skordinovo village was without electricity due to the quake and cracks in the walls are reported by locals.

UPDATE: If the USGS epicenter location is well calculated, the following locations can be described as “Highest Risk villages” : Bamovskaya, Tahtamygda, Posolok Bam, Selo Solnechnyy, Derevnya Krestovka and Posolok Ol’doy.

UPDATE: Patients were evacuated from some hospitals in the area. People in some railway stations of the Trans-Siberian Railway were evacuated too. Officials are following the Bureya Hydroelectric Power station if any damage was occured by the earthquake.

UPDATE: Based on the data we have collected so far, and the nearby location of a few villages, Earthquake-Report.com calls this earthquake moderately dangerous for damage as well as for injuries. Houses are build in wood but also in bricks. Especially the brick building style is very vulnarable for earthquakes.

UPDATE: WAPMERR, the theoretical damage and casualty calculation engine, well informed on Russian earthquakes, has reported that the previsions are 0-10 deaths and 0-100 injured. Translated into human language, this means that no direct casualties are expected.

UPDATE - The earthquake was well felt in Blagoveshchensk, a town with over 200,000 resindents, where people panicked and ran to the streets. Some buildings were evacuated right after the quake struck.

UPDATE – after recalculation USGS gives a magnitude of 6.1 and a depth of 15.3 km for the hypocenter.

UPDATE: Amur Oblast has considerable reserves of many types of mineral resources; proven reserves are estimated to be worth $400 billion. Among the most important are gold (the largest reserves in Russia), silver, titanium, molybdenum, tungsten, copper, tin, etc. Black coal and lignite reserves are estimated to be 70 billion tons. Probable iron deposits are estimated to be 3.8 billion tons. The Garin deposit is fully explored and known to contain 389 million tons of iron ore. Estimated reserves of the deposit are 1,293 million tons. The deposit’s ore contains a low concentration of detrimental inpurities; the ore contains 69.9% iron. Amur  Oblast is also a promising source of titanium, with the Bolshoy Seyim deposit being the most important.

INITIAL INFORMATION: The quake struck at 16:10 PM local time. The epicenter was very close to Takhtamygda a location with approximately 1,000 people. The earthquake was felt in China too with an intensity of IV – III on the Modified Mercalli Scale. We have no information about damage or injuries at this point. Will keep you updated as soon as we have any further information.

“I Have Felt It” reports as received by Earthquake-Report.com
- No Felt reports as yet, be the first to send us what you experienced.

Most important Earthquake Data:
Magnitude : 5.9
UTC Time : 06:10:15 UTC
Local time at epicenter : 16:10:15
Depth (Hypocenter) : 13.8 km
Geo-location(s) : 130 km (80 miles) SSW of Tynda, Russia
211 km (131 miles) NNW of Tahe, Heilongjiang, China

Links to important maps
USGS Did You Feel It Map
Google satellite map showing the epicenter and the surrounding area.
Historic earthquakes map
Scientific earthquake information from the Russian Academy of Sciences
Seismic hazard map
Shaking map
Human impact map

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I did feel it – Ik heb het gevoeld – Το έκανα αισθάνεται –Yo lo he sentido – 我的确感到了 – 私はそれを感じていました- Ich habe es gefühlt – Bunu hissediyorum yaptı – لم أشعر أنه

Country and location
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Tell us where in which location you felt the earthquake
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Your Email address might help us if we request for additional details about your experience. This field is NOT mandatory. It is up to you to give it or not.
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People :
Felt by persons at rest, on upper floors or favorably placed.
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People :
Felt indoors; hanging objects may swing, vibration similar to passing of light trucks, duration may be estimated, may not be recognized as an earthquake.
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People :
Generally noticed indoors but not outside. Light sleepers may be awakened. Vibration may be likened to the passing of heavy traffic, or to the jolt of a heavy object falling or striking the building.
Fittings :
Doors and windows rattle. Glassware and crockery rattle. Liquids in open vessels may be slightly disturbed. Standing motorcars may rock.
Structures :
Walls and frames of buildings, and partitions and suspended ceilings in commercial buildings, may be heard to creak.
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People :
Generally felt outside, and by almost everyone indoors. Most sleepers awakened. A few people alarmed.
Fittings :
Small unstable objects are displaced or upset. Some glassware and crockery may be broken. Hanging pictures knock against the wall. Open doors may swing. Cupboard doors secured by magnetic catches may open. Pendulum clocks stop, start, or change rate.
Structures :
Some large display windows cracked. A few earthenware toilet fixtures cracked.
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People Felt by all. People and animals alarmed. Many run outside. Difficulty experienced in walking steadily.
Fittings :
Objects fall from shelves. Pictures fall from walls. Some furniture moved on smooth floors, some unsecured free-standing fireplaces moved. Glassware and crockery broken. Very unstable furniture overturned. Small church and school bells ring. Appliances move on bench or table tops. Filing cabinets or "easy glide" drawers may open (or shut).
Structures :
Slight damage to buildings with low standard. Some stucco or cement plaster falls. Large display windows broken. Damage to a few weak domestic chimneys, some may fall.
Environment :
Trees and bushes shake, or are heard to rustle. Loose material may be dislodged from sloping ground, e.g. existing slides, talus slopes, shingle slides.
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People
General alarm. Difficulty experienced in standing. Noticed by motorcar drivers who may stop.
Fittings :
Large bells ring. Furniture moves on smooth floors, may move on carpeted floors. Substantial damage to fragile contents of buildings.
Structures :
Unreinforced stone and brick walls cracked. Low standard buildings cracked with some minor masonry falls. A few instances of damage to buildings of ordinary workmanship. Unbraced parapets, unbraced brick gables, and architectural ornaments fall. Roofing tiles, especially ridge tiles may be dislodged. Many unreinforced domestic chimneys damaged, often falling from roof-line. Water tanks Type I burst. A few instances of damage to brick veneers and plaster or cement-based linings. Unrestrained water cylinders (hot-water cylinders) may move and leak. Some common windows cracked. Suspended ceilings damaged.
Environment :
Water made turbid by stirred up mud. Small slides such as falls of sand and gravel banks, and small rock-falls from steep slopes and cuttings. Instances of settlement of unconsolidated or wet, or weak soils. Some fine cracks appear in sloping ground. A few instances of liquefaction (i.e. small water and sand ejections).
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People Alarm may approach panic. Steering of motorcars greatly affected. Structures : Low standard buildings heavily damaged, some collapse. ordinary workmanship buildings damaged, some with partial collapse. Reinforced masonry or concrete buildings damaged in some cases. A few instances of damage to buildings and bridges designed and built to resist earthquakes. Monuments and pre-1976 elevated tanks and factory stacks twisted or brought down. Some pre-1965 infill masonry panels damaged. A few post-1980 brick veneers damaged. Decayed timber piles of houses damaged. Houses not secured to foundations may move. Most unreinforced domestic chimneys damaged, some below roof-line, many brought down. Environment : Cracks appear on steep slopes and in wet ground. Small to moderate slides in roadside cuttings and unsupported excavations. Small water and sand ejections and localized lateral spreading adjacent to streams, canals, lakes, etc.
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Structures Many low standard buildings destroyed. Ordinary workmanship buildings heavily damaged, some collapse. Reinforced masonry or concrete buildings damaged, some with partial collapse. Buildings and bridges designed and built to resist earthquakes damaged in some cases, some with flexible frames seriously damaged. Damage or permanent distortion to some buildings and bridges, designed and built to normal use standards. Houses not secured to foundations shifted off. Brick veneers fall and expose frames. Environment : Cracking of ground conspicuous. Landsliding general on steep slopes. Liquefaction effects intensified and more widespread, with large lateral spreading and flow sliding adjacent to streams, canals, lakes, etc.
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