The situation with the earthquake in the city of Almaty out of the agenda considered at the Government session chaired by Prime Minister of Kazakhstan Olzhas Bektenov.

Minister for Emergency Situations Chingis Arinov reported that from the first minutes of the emergency all services immediately began work according to the approved algorithms. Republican and regional headquarters were organised to coordinate actions.

Informing citizens about the situation and further actions was carried out through TV and radio channels, as well as by means of voice signalling and other means. In addition, 384 reception centres for citizens were opened. A round-the-clock hotline has been launched.

At present, all life support facilities in Almaty are working in normal mode, the seismic situation in the country is stable. The Ministry for Emergency Situations will continue large-scale information and explanatory work and preparation of citizens for actions during the earthquake.

The report on the current situation in the city and measures taken was also made by the Akim of Almaty Yerbolat Dossayev. He said that in the organisation of work of gathering points of citizens were involved akimats of districts and rescue service. Arrived people were provided with bedding, drink and food. Police officers and emergency services are on duty at all reception points.

At the same time, by the order of the Head of State by the end of May this year it is planned to introduce a system of instant notification of the population through mobile devices on the principle of "Mass Alert" using Cell Broadcast technology. This work is now being carried out jointly by the Almaty Akimat, the Ministry of Digital Development and the Ministry of Emergency Situations.

Unlike traditional SMS, Cell Broadcast technology does not create additional load on the network and allows to provide instant mass distribution of alerts for all subscribers located in the coverage area of antennas of base stations.

Prime Minister emphasised that all services ranging from the Ministry for Emergency Situations to the Akimat and other government agencies had responded to the incident. 

"Now the assessment of the occurred situation is ongoing. The Ministry for Emergency Situations needs to ensure constant monitoring of the seismological situation in the country. Forces and means need to be on standby. We need to continue awareness-raising work with the population. Also, the Ministry for Emergency Situations needs to ensure appropriate monitoring of mudflow and avalanche situation in the mountainous regions of the country. In case of threat of emergencies to take measures to respond to them," Olzhas Bektenov said.

#Olzhas Bektenov #The Prime Minister of the Republic of Kazakhstan #Government session #Ministry for Emergency Situation