Mild tremors were reported in Kodagu and Dakshina Kannada districts on Tuesday, making it the eighth such incident since June 23. The State Disaster Management Monitoring Centre confirmed it to be a mild earthquake of 1.8 magnitude.
The quake was felt in Chembu, Peraje, and Goonadka regions in the districts around 4 pm on Tuesday.
The Sullia taluk in Dakshina Kannada district and Madikeri surroundings in Kodagu district had also experienced mild tremors of the same magnitude on Sunday also .
The epicentre was 1.1 km southeast of Aranthodu gram panchayat and the tremors were felt in almost 30-km radius.
In the backdrop of the repeated tremors, the residents are now panicking. “There is no clarification from the government as to why this is happening and what steps should be taken. Every other day, there is a new earthquake (tremor). There is panic among people. Many are concerned that they (tremors) will lead to landslides,” Sharan Boppanna, resident of Chembu in Kodagu said.
Karnataka chief minister Basavaraj Bommai who is on a tour to the rain-affected districts in the state also visited Kodagu and Dakshina Kannada districts. He said that there are sensitive seismic zones in Kodagu which have been experiencing tremors recently. The entire government is engaged in addressing the woes of people in rain-affected regions, said the CM. “I will issue directions for the district administration. I will stand with people,” he said.
Geologists, however, said there is no need to worry over a series of seismic activities happening in parts of Karnataka as they are not major ones and Deccan Plateau is a safe zone.
The tremors in Kodagu and adjoining districts of Hassan, Shivamogga, Chikkamagaluru and Dakshina Kannada, besides Vijayapura and neighbouring regions in north Karnataka, have been felt since June 26. On Saturday, the quake measured 4.4 on the Richter scale in Vijayapura area bordering Maharashtra, and there was another tremor of 1.8 on Sunday morning in south Karnataka.
Geologists are of the opinion that these were essential as the pressure caused by the disturbance is coming out in the form of the mild tremors.
“Earthquake is not a regional phenomenon. The Indian subcontinent is always moving. Each year the subcontinent is moving 0.5 centimetres. So, there would always be some internal disturbance,”mines and geology department joint director, Lakshmamma, said.
“What we had studied in school that the Deccan Plateau is safe is true even now, but there are some internal disturbances at the crust. So, the pressure caused due to the disturbance should come out, otherwise, if the pressure remains forever, it can cause a major disturbance,” she said.
“These disturbances coming out through small tremors is good. We are still in the safe zone. We will be safe even if there is an earthquake of 5 on the Richter scale,” the geologist said.
Meanwhile, sources in the mines and geology department said a team of geologists from the state government, Geological Survey of India, and Suratkal- based National Institute of Technology (NIT), visited Kodagu to study the phenomenon.
