BELAGAVI: In the middle of a spate of heavy rains, news of an earthquake near the Koyna dam in Maharashtra created panic in several villages of North Karnataka, especially those located in and around the banks of the Krishna river.
The minor earthquake, which measured 3 on the Richter scale, struck Koyna in the late hours of Thursday. It was reported from a spot located around 20 km from the dam. As news of the earthquake spread on social media, several people residing on the banks of the Krishna, which passes through Belagavi, Bagalkot, Vijayapura and Yadgir districts, were scared of possible floods if water from the dam was released.
However, authorities at the dam confirmed that there was no structural damage and no plan to release water due to the quake.
Dilip Bodake of Waghapur Sada village in Patan taluk, said that his village had been experiencing earthquakes a few times every six months. “The most intense earthquake reported in my village was in 1967. My house was also damaged. During that period, the government gave us compensation to help rebuild.” “But after that, earthquakes witnessed by us were all mild (range between 3.0 to 4.0 Richter scale),” he said.