A 6.1-magnitude earthquake occurred in Almaty, Kazakhstan, near the Kyrgyzstan border, at 11.22 local time. Hundreds of people in Almaty and its surroundings, including neighboring Kazakh cities, fled to the streets, and schools were dismissed. No casualties were reported.
The Kazakhstan Ministry of Emergency Situations reported that the earthquake occurred 31 kilometers south of Almaty at a depth of 10 kilometers below the surface.
In Australia, more than 300 vehicles suffered punctured tires after 750 kilograms of sharp metal casting spilled from a truck on the M1 Pacific Highway, one of the country’s busiest roads. The incident, which occurred in the early morning, led to a major traffic shutdown.
New South Wales State Highway Patrol Commander Howard Collins said the metal spread over 30 kilometers, making clean-up efforts difficult and time-consuming. “This isn’t just a matter of using a sweeper—we’re using magnetic tools to extract embedded metal from the road surface,” he explained.
The trucking company NJ Ashton issued an apology, stating, “We take full responsibility and are deeply sorry for the damage and disruption. We still do not fully understand how this happened.”
TR