State of emergency declared in southern Siberia over earthquake measuring 4.6 on Richter scale

The authorities stressed that the Sayano-Shushenskaya hydroelectric power station and other life-supporting facilities were working normally. There were no reports of casualties nor destroyed buildings, but the authorities were taking careful precautions amid warnings of expected aftershocks. 

The earthquake, some 45 km from regional capital Abakan, hit at 01.51 on Sunday morning, local time, 21.51 Saturday Moscow time. It led to buildings quivering and people being woken 265 km away in Krasnoyarsk. 

'The cutlery rattled and sofas shook,' said one account. Federal, regional and municipal authorities went on high alert in Khakassia, said the Russian Ministry of Emergency Situations.

'The introduction of emergency will permit the republican authorities to involve in round-the-clock work organisations, agencies and enterprises of all types of property. The amount of work is huge, as all settlements, socially important facilities, infrastructure and life-supporting facilities, potentially hazardous facilities and crowded places should be checked for any damages or destruction,' said a spokeswoman.

Before the end of Monday, all buildings, facilities and residential houses are to be checked for possible damage from the quake, the epicentre of which was in the Altai district of Khakassia.

Krasnoyarsk scientific-research institute of geology and mineral resources said  tremors in the epicentre measured about 6 points on the MSK-64 scale.