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Some 1422 earthquakes have been recorded in Armenia and surrounding territories this year, Chief Advisor to the head of the MES National Survey for Seismic Protection Hrachya Petrosyan told reporters on Saturday. He added that the recorded seismic events amounted for 1394 in 2018 and 1131 – in 2017, adding the numbers indicate there is an increase in seismic activity in the region.

According to the presented data, 262 earthquakes were recorded in Armenia only this year and 78 in the territory of Artsakh, while the population felt 21 quakes in the reporting period.

“Weak seismic events occurred, yet no increase in average and large earthquakes is observed,” Petrosyan said.

In his words, after the Spitak earthquake the largest earthquake recorded in the territory of Armenia was on December 24 in 1992 near Martuni town amounting for 7 magnitude.

Referring to the available data at the National Survey for Seismic Protection, Petrosyan said there are no predictions for a large seismic event in the near future.

He added, however, earthquakes are natural, geological phenomenon and no practical measures are available to prevent them from occurring.