Tremors due to adjustments in Gundlakamma fault: Scientists

Ongole: Mild tremors multiple times on consecutive days, from December 21 to 23 instilled fear among the people in the villages of Mundlamuru and neighbouring mandals.

A large number of people hesitated to enter their own houses, and offices fearing that they may collapse at any time due to the earthquake, and even slept in open places at night.

The Gundlakamma river area in the district, which is in Zone-III (Moderate) of the Seismic Zones in India, regularly experiences tremors, but no severe incident has been reported so far.

The Mundlamuru and the neighbouring mandals in the district experienced mild tremors, starting with a 3.1 magnitude at 10:35 am on December 21, 2.1 magnitude at 05:47 pm on December 22, 0.9 magnitudes at 03:51 am, 1.8 magnitudes at 10:24 am, 1.3 and 1.4 magni-tudes at 08:15 pm, 0.7 and 0.8 magnitudes at 08:19 pm, and 0.8 magnitudes at 10:18 PM on December 23.

These multiple tremors baffled the public, and the schools also conducted classes in open places on Monday. Several locals feared that these tremors were an indication of a severe earthquake, while some pointed to the excavation at Black Galaxy Granite Quarries as a reason for the tremors.

Speaking with ‘The Hans India’ Chief Scientist, Earthquake Hazard at the CSIR- NGRI institute Dr R Vijayaraghavan said that the Gundlakamma fault has witnessed several mild tremors in history, due to the stress build-up on the earth's plates.

He said that they studied the shallow earthquakes that occurred in the last few days with the data from the Seismological Observatory in Addanki, and said that these are just due to the stress build-up from the interpolate movements. He advised the public not to panic as there wouldn’t be any severe damage due to them.

Vijayararaghavan and the DD of the Mines and Geology Department in Prakasam, T Raja-sekhar, said that the mining of granite cannot cause an earthquake. They said that an earth-quake is possible due to disturbances in the inner layers of the earth, while granite mining is on the upper layers. They said that blasting in mines may send shock waves that are effec-tive for a few meters and cannot cause disturbance in the kilometres range, and they denied the rumours.

Vijayaraghavan informed that a team of scientists is coming to Addanki and Mundlamuru this week to study the tremors and determine any other causes.