The strongest earthquake in ever history of Tuva has damaged dozens of buildings in Kyzyl, but no injuries or deaths have been reported.
The epicenter of the 9.0 magnitude quake was about 100 kilometres (60 miles) east of Kyzyl, capital of the Russian republic of Tuva, which borders Mongolia, in the place Bai-Sut of the Kaa-Khem district.
The municipal services in Kyzyl said Wednesday that 31 multistory apartment buildings, a school and a plant that provides hot water and heat suffered cracks and other damage. The plant was still operating.
The Emergencies Ministry said 3,500 people were provided temporary shelter in schools, kindergartens, sports centre ‘Subedei’
There could be severe aftershocks during the week with a magnitude of up to 5.0, the Director of the Geophysical Service of the Russian Academy of Sciences Viktor Seleznev said on Wednesday.
According to the Seleznev, the epicenter of the quake was registered at a depth of 10 kilometers (6.2 miles) some 120 km (75 miles) to the east of the city of Kyzyl at around 11:20 p.m. local time [15:20 GMT].
A spokesman for the regional Emergencies Ministry said that local residents were warned about the possibility of aftershocks and were advised to leave their homes.