Official RESPONSE to the claims circulated about the Caspian Sea

"The occurrence of earthquakes in the Caspian Sea is a natural seismic process and should not be considered an unusual event."

These words were said to "Yeni Sabah" by Qurban Yetirmişli, the director of the Republican Seismological Service Center under the Azerbaijan National Academy of Sciences.

According to him, earthquakes are regularly recorded not only on land but also in the sea area:

"The occurrence of earthquakes in the Caspian Sea is normal. In general, earthquakes happen both in the sea and on land. Such incidents are also observed in various regions of Azerbaijan. This is not an unusual situation.

Earthquakes in the Caspian Sea usually originate at deeper sources and in most cases are not felt. Therefore, there is no serious cause for concern; minor tremors may occur, which is a natural process."

The head of the RSSC did not rule out the possibility of certain effects between the decrease in water level in the Caspian Sea and seismic processes, but emphasized that there is no scientific basis for ideas suggesting that this poses a major earthquake risk. Currently, minor tremors are observed. There is no region where the probability of a strong, destructive earthquake is high. It may be possible to feel weak earthquakes with a magnitude of 3-4, but these are not dangerous and do not cause serious damage."

Q. Yetirmişli added that it is not a correct approach to associate the occurrence of earthquakes in the Caspian Sea only with the decrease in water level. According to him, seismic tremors in the sea have also been recorded during periods when the water level was high.

The RSSC head stated that this process could be a more serious topic of discussion only if the water was completely drawn down and the situation reached a worrying level. Currently, no such situation is observed:

"Even when the water level was very high in the Caspian, earthquakes still occurred. Therefore, it is not right to directly link this to the decrease in water. The dangerous situation can only be talked about if the water level drops sharply and reaches a critical threshold. At present, there is no such case, and we see no reason for concern."