A magnitude seven earthquake shook Almaty last night, causing panic among local residents. However, some locals have said the situation was not as bad as it was portrayed on social media and in news reports. “They said it was a level seven magnitude earthquake, but my friend lives on the seventh floor and his furniture only wobbled, but nothing fell,” Anastasia, a resident of the city told The Times of Central Asia.
Despite the fact that numerous videos have appeared on the internet showing people in distress and buildings violently shaking, some have claimed that many of the videos are fakes, saying that the shaking was palpable, but did not reach levels that would cause widespread alarm.
“The only thing that caused panic was a severe tremor in residential complexes that made the chandeliers wobble. My family and I drove into the city; traffic was crazy,” Sanjar, a resident living on the outskirts of the city told The Times of Central Asia.
Nevertheless, others spoke of feeling fear and anxiety during the earthquake, with another resident, Raushan telling The Times of Central Asia that ““Just after midnight we felt swaying and tremors, which was especially frightening considering we live on the 12th floor. First, the bed started to shake, and then I noticed the chandelier swinging violently. We quickly ran out of the apartment taking our passports and wallets. The worst part was that we were left with no communication as we had forgotten our phones, so we couldn’t contact our loved ones.”
