You're reading: Quake reaching 9.5 rocks southeastern Siberia

MOSCOW - The intensity of a powerful earthquake that rocked the southeastern part of Siberia on Tuesday reached 9.5, Russian Emergency Situations Minister Sergei Shoigu said at a teleconference in the early hours of Wednesday.

"The earthquake’s intensity in the epicenter has been estimated at 9.5. The main threat will come tomorrow morning. As soon as the people wake up, they will see cracks in the walls, stoves, and chimneys," he said.

It was reported earlier that an earthquake reaching 8-9 in the epicenter had been recorded in the Kaa-Khemsky district of Tyva 100 kilometers east of Kyzyl at a depth of 10 kilometers at 7:22 p.m. Moscow time on Tuesday.

The earthquake’s magnitude reached 6.7. The tremors were felt in Tyva, Khakasia, the Krasnoyarsk territory and the Irkutsk region.

Preliminary reports indicate that the quake did not cause casualties and significant destruction.

The population of the Kaa-Khemsky district is about 12,700 people. Emergency Situations Ministry experts are examining communities now.