Strong earthquake in the Caucasus (150 km from Sochi, Russia)

Last update: May 28, 2013 at 8:20 am by By Ashish Khanal

Update : The same area had very strong earthquakes in 1905 (M6.4) and in 1963 (M6.7). the current earthquake may have the benefit to have released a lot of the culminated stress. The location of the epicenter is close to Dombay, a tourist village with approx. 700 inhabitants. The village is popular with skiers and hikers.

Image courtesy Wikipedia – Dombai, village close to the epicenter (USGS location)

Update : The earthquake and some aftershocks were clearly felt in Sochi, the location of the next Winter Olympics. Some Sochi residents left their homes and spent some time in the open air out of fear for aftershocks.The Russian Academy of Sciences, said that the epicenter of the earthquake was located 8 km north of the Lower Arkhyz (Karachay-Cherkessia).

A strong shallow earthquake occurred 150 km to the east of Sochi in the Russian Caucasus

27km (17mi) SSW of Teberda, Russia
42km (26mi) N of Tqvarch’eli, Georgia
55km (34mi) ENE of Sokhumi, Georgia
57km (35mi) NNE of Och’amch’ire, Georgia
315km (196mi) NW of Tbilisi, Georgia