For a second day in a row, an earthquake was reported in Chickballapur taluk on Thursday. The National Centre for Seismology said it occurred at 2.16 p.m. and had a magnitude of 3.6.
People felt the land trembling in Settigere, Beeraganhalli and surrounding villages and many ran out of buildings scared. This is just a few kilometers away from Mandikal and Bhogaparthi villages, where tremors of 3.1 and 3.3 magnitude were reported on Wednesday morning.
At 3.14 p.m., on Thursday, the seismology centre recorded an earthquake of magnitude 3.5, 50 km north-west - north of Vellore, Tamil Nadu, also in the vicinity of the same area.
Karnataka State Natural Disaster Monitoring Centre attributes the tremors to hydroseismicity — seismic activity induced by elevation of water table in recharge areas due to heavy rainfall in Chickballapur.
The district received very heavy rainfall in October, causing most lakes and rivers to overflow. Villages in Kalaburagi, Bidar and Vijayapura also experienced similar tremors post monsoon and National Geophysical Research Institute visited the spot and pointed at hydroseismicity as the reason.
Manoj Rajan, Director, KSNDMC, said a team of experts from the centre would visit the affected villages over the weekend and later he would write to NGRI to take up a field study.
The epicentre of the earthquake on Thursday was at 1.2 km south-east of Sadenahalli village, Gollahalli gram panchayat and tremors were felt 1.3 km north-west of Beeraganahalli, of Gollahalli gram panchayat, and 2.8 km of south-west of Settigere village of Addagallu gram panchayat. The earthquake occurred at a depth of 18 km, said KSNDMC.
In a district that has rarely experienced earthquakes, such events on successive days have sent shockwaves and people are scared and concerned. Naveen Kumar, a resident of Shettigere village, said he felt the ground shaking and felt like he was about to fall down when he was standing. Some residents of the neighbouring village said they heard a loud sound.
Farmers’ and irrigation activist Anjaneya Reddy said the district has been a victim of overexploitation of natural resources and, of late, climate change events. “There has been unscientific excess mining of sand and stone, robbing the rivers and mountains. Now, a drought-prone district has received heavy rain and is experiencing earthquakes. The district has borne a disproportionate cost for Bengaluru’s development, which needs to be corrected now,” he said.
However, KSNDMC said, “The community need not panic as the intensity observed is low and not destructive”. “As per the seismic intensity map of the said earthquake from the epicentre, the intensity observed is moderate and the tremor might be felt up to a maximum of radial distance of 20-30 km from the epicentre. This type of earthquake does not create any harm to the local community, although slight shaking may be observed. The community need not panic as the intensity observed is moderate and not destructive,” KSNDMC said in a statement.
