MOSCOW, May 17 (RIA Novosti) - Most residents of the area in Russia's Far East evacuated after a devastating earthquake in April will return to their homes in the next few days, a local official said Wednesday.
"Most of the 1,253 evacuated residents will return to their towns by May 21, although about 100 people whose houses were completely destroyed will not be able to," said Oleg Kozhemyako, head of the sparsely populated Koryak Autonomous Area, nine time zones east of Moscow.
A series of major earthquakes rocked Kamchatka and Koryakia in late April-early May. The first 7.8-magnitude quake April 21 with an epicenter about 30 kilometers (18 miles) from Khailino, the strongest since 1900 in the region, injured 31 people and damaged about 380 houses and 25 administrative facilities in the towns of Tilichiki, Korf, Ossora, and Khailino.
