Earthquake shocks Kaliningrad, Eastern Europe

The magnitude of the quake was not typical for the Kaliningrad region
 
A powerful earthquake took place in the center of Kaliningrad on Tuesday. The first quake took place in the city at 3:06 p.m., RIA Novosti reports. The second series of tremors was a lot stronger – it occurred in Kaliningrad at 4:33 p.m. The third earthquake shock took place at 5:36 p.m.

A spokesman for the Institute of Earth's Physics, of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Sergey Yunga, believes that the earthquake magnitude is not typical for the region. The expert, however, added that it was not an extraordinary event to happen. “The earthquake's magnitude measured 4.5-5.5 on the Richter scale,” Yunga said. The specialist did not exclude that the quake could measure 5.7 in certain areas. The epicenter of the quake was situated at a large depth, about 40 kilometers south-east off Kaliningrad, in the area of the border between Russia and Poland. There is no information about victims or destructions.

The quake was also registered in Lithuania, Poland, Belarus and Austria.

The quake shock lasted for several seconds, Interfax reports. People started leaving their apartment blocks. They said that chandeliers started swinging in their apartments. Residents of almost all districts of the city could feel the tremors, Itar-Tass reports.

The chairman of the emergency administration in the Kaliningrad enclave, Alexander Kulchitsky, stated that the earthquake occurred throughout the region, but it was not a strong quake. The official added that he did not have any information about any breakdowns or accidents that could be caused with the tremors. 

A similar earthquake took place in Kaliningrad 25 years ago – there were no serious consequences of that registered.

An earthquake was registered in Lithuania – it measured four points on the Richter scale. A spokesman for the Lithuanian earthquake-detection station said that it was a strong quake for the region.