No Need to Panic: What You Felt Wasn’t an Earthquake but a Blast

At 5 pm on Wednesday, a group of residents from the city of Etchmiadzin called Epress.am to inform the office that they felt an earthquake and intense tremors in their city.

Epress.am promptly called deputy chair of the National Survey of Seismic Protection of the RA Ministry of Emergency Situations Ashkhen Tovmasyan who stated that there were no earthquakes recorded in Armenia on Dec. 7 around 5 pm.

“Often, residents get the impression of an earthquake from blasts as a result of nearby construction work. The confusion from the noise caused by construction machinery makes people anxious. As a result, panic ensues and citizens call us. I can safely say that at this time all the equipment is in working order and there was no earthquake in the territory of the Republic of Armenia,” she said.