EARTHQUAKE RATTLES CAUCASUS, AT LEAST FIVE DEAD: REPORTS

Agence France Presse
October 11, 2008 Saturday 1:57 PM GMT

A strong earthquake reverberated through the Caucasus mountains on
Saturday, killing at least five people and disrupting power supplies
in Russia’s Chechnya region, reports said.

The quake, measuring 6.3 on the Richter scale according to Strasbourg
observatory estimates, was felt in five regions of the Russian north
Caucasus and neighbouring Georgia and Armenia.

The dead were found in Chechnya’s east, four of them killed in the
Kurchaloy district and the other in Gudermes, said Itar-Tass news
agency, citing Chechen vice emergency situations minister, Akhmed
Dzheirkhanov.

One was a soldier who died when a wall collapsed, while at least 24
people were injured, said Russian news agencies, which added there
were no reports of major damage.

Some 52,000 people from three Chechen districts were left without
electricity, according to the Russian emergency situations ministry,
cited by Interfax.

Chechen President Ramzan Kadyrov said he had ordered the creation
of a special commission to assess the needs of people following
the earthquake.

"We have received information on damage from various districts… each
and every (victim) will receive the necessary help and support,"
said Kadyrov, quoted by Interfax.

The American Geological Institute, which put the strength of the quake
at 5.3 on the Richter scale, said its epicentre was 40 kilometres
(25 miles) east of the Chechen capital Grozny, and 10 kilometres
underground.

In the Chechen city of Gudermes, residents who live in high apartment
buildings left their homes briefly due to fear of aftershocks, RIA
Novosti news agency reported.

In addition to Chechnya, the earthquake was felt in the Russian
provinces of Dagestan, North Ossetia, Ingushetia and in the Stavropol
region, and was also registered in Georgia and Armenia.

"The underground shock was quite strong, and people felt it in the
streets of Vladikavkaz," a witness in the North Ossetian city was
quoted by Interfax as saying.

In Tbilisi, Georgian Interior Ministry spokesman Shota Utiashvili
said the earthquake was recorded near the Georgian border but said
there had been no damage or injuries there.

In Yerevan, a spokesman for Armenia’s seismology centre said two
small quakes were registered in the north of the country, but no
damages or injuries reported.