Scientists at the Shmidt Institute of Earth Physics will create a detailed map of seismic zoning in the North Caucasus by 2014, the deputy director of the Institute, Yevgeny Rogozhin, said at the international scientific conference "Seismic safety of the Black Sea region", RIA Novosti reports .
Rogozhin explains that there are no updated maps of seismic zoning of the Caucasus, the last one was updated in 1997 and contains some errors. For example, the Salsk steppes are in a five-point earthquake risk area, although an earthquake was recorded there with a magnitude of 6-7 points.
"Now there is a need to make a new map for detailed seismic zoning of the Northern Caucasus on a completely new level," Rogozhin said. He added that the institute won the competition to create this map for the Russian Emergencies Ministry to reduce the risks of natural disasters. The document must be developed before 2014.
Rogozhin said that such a map is essential for the Caucasus region,where high population density is combined with low-quality construction and high risk of earthquakes. These factors make the Caucasus much more vulnerable in terms of seismic hazard, for example, than the under-populated Far East.
