[Summary translation prepared by Business & Human Rights Resource Centre]

Kuzbass shaken, seismologists speculate, 25 September 2024

On September 22, a 3.3 magnitude earthquake was recorded near the village of Novobachaty in the Belovo district of Kuzbass, with an intensity of 3.8 on the MSK-64 scale. Experts say the event was of natural origin.

However, just two days earlier, on the night of September 20, a series of tremors ranging from magnitude 2 to 5 occurred in the Tashtagol district. While EVRAZ holding company, which operates the nearby Sheregesh iron ore deposit, claims the epicenter was 12 km from the mine, geophysicist Alexey Yemanov from the Altai-Sayan branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences disagrees. He believes the tremors were likely caused by human activity and that the actual epicenter was directly beneath the mine.

Supporting this view, seismologist Anna Lyusina from Moscow State University also points to underground mining and the formation of voids as potential causes. She warns that such man-induced seismic events in the region could happen again.