Some time ago, residents of the Kemerovo region experienced the effects of a natural disaster, which scientists once called an earthquake. At the same time, its “echoes” were heard even in the Novosibirsk Region and the Altai Territory.
At the same time, experts are ambiguous in their assessment of why the earthquake occurred in the Kemerovo region. Some are convinced that atmospheric and natural phenomena became the cause of the tremors, others believe that the cataclysm arose due to the fact that mining began to be carried out. If the true reason lies in the human factor, then the earthquake in the Kemerovo region is the largest man-made cataclysm that has occurred over the past century.
Of course, there were many experts who believe that tremors were caused by natural changes in the atmosphere. Scientists rated the magnitude of the phenomenon at seven points. The head of the local subdivision of the geophysical service of the SB RAS, Alexander Yemanov, considered the earthquake that occurred in the Kemerovo region to be the largest seismic eventcentury.
“The area of technogenic impact is characterized by an abundance of curved rock layers, while the earth's crust is simply weakened. The symbiosis of man-made processes and natural phenomena caused the cataclysm, since it is the combination of the two above factors that is considered a dangerous situation,” the expert said.
Alexander Yemanov also added that this earthquake in the Kemerovo region is an extraordinary natural event, because tremors with a magnitude of more than four points were not observed in the above region.
“In the Kemerovo region, mining is constantly being carried out, as a result of which voids are formed, the existing load is transferred to the upper regions of the earth's crust. It is possible that a situation will arise when a huge stress is formed in some layers, which will lead to tremors,”said Alexei Zavyalov in an interview, who heads the laboratory of continental seismicity and seismic hazard prediction at the Institute of Physics of the Earth. Schmidt.
The media, broadcasting the news of the Kemerovo region about the earthquake, quote the words of the head of the geophysical department of the SB RAS Viktor Seleznev: “The tremors arose through the fault of man, while his activity can be assessed as positive. If tension is formed in the bowels of the earth, then discharge will happen sooner or later, and a person, exploding or doing something else, being in the risk zone, contributes to the fact thatearthquakes happen faster and with less force.”
At the same time, the expert has a negative attitude to the opinion that human intervention in natural phenomena has a positive value. “If the list of mining operations were expanded, it is possible that there would be an earthquake again today. When people stop mining natural resources, earthquakes will occur much less frequently,” he said.
