by Georgy Kalatozishvili, Tbilisi. Exclusively for VK
An earthquake happened in Tbilisi on the morning of May 7. Its center was 180 km to the east of the city. The earthquake magnitude at the center was 5.8 points on Richter scale. The only damaged caused was a collapse of wall in a shabby building at the center of the old building. There were no victims.
The previous powerful earthquake happened in 2002. Two people died back then. The main problem caused was mass panic. An earthquake causes fear, allowing executives to monitor the public reaction and operation of social institutions. The earthquake lasted for 5 minutes. Two minutes after the earthquake, a new thread at an Internet forum was opened, called Earthquake in Tbilisi. People exchanged information. Some said that fell off the bed and rushed to the framework of the house, the safest part of the building. Some exchanged their fears with relatives and friends, trying to contact them, mobile and telephone communication facilities were malfunctioning, probably because of too many calls. Social networks are becoming a reliable means of communication.
Quakes reoccurred for several days after. Seismologists were calming the population, saying that “underground energy has found a way out and became low, so such earthquake would not happened in Tbilisi in the next 10 years”. Such statements were more of a social-psychological therapy to avoid mass panic. The nature of earthquakes has not been fully studied. Even the most competent scientist cannot tell when it may happen. Many noticed that even though the earthquakes stopped, their lamps continued moving.
A bigger challenge happened on the night of May 13, when River Kura went off the banks after heavy rains. Flood started at the old city where underground communications are especially vulnerable. Such flood has not happened here in the last 50-60 years.
The Ortachala District was the first to experience the flood. It is the closest area to the river and some of its parts are below the water level. There are many old houses and buildings. Rain continued for the whole day. First reports on landslides and waves were registered at about 11 pm. The Square of Gulua turned into a big lake. A three-meter wave carried trees away that blocked the sewers. Dozens of buildings were destroyed in just a few minutes. Many cars were washed away, as it happened in Japan.
People were saved by the city emergency services. Yet, five people died, including a mother, two children, a young woman and an old lady, at the Square of Gulua. Rescuers managed to open some sewers and the water level started dropping, but dozens of families were left without accommodation. The government promised to help them with housing, food. Natural disasters cause destruction, but, at the same time, it gives a feeling of temporality of everything and gives values to such thing as social solidarity.
