KOCHI:The major earthquake that hit the North Indian states and Nepal was felt in Kochi as well in a mild way which the Kerala State Disaster Management Authority said was a wave only and not a tremor.
The wave was felt in Kaloor and Kadavanthra by around noon and lasted for a few minutes making the people panicky. Those who were in the tall buildings of these areas at that time rushed outside. “It was not a local tremor, but a wave. Only a wave, which the people feared as a tremor, was registered in our digital seismic monitoring network. It was just a propagation of the earthquake that hit North India. It could be felt intensively if the magnitude was above three which was not the case on Saturday. When a major earthquake strikes in one place in a country it is natural to have propagations of it in other places”, said KSDMA member Sekhar L. Kuriakose.
According to experts, the wave could have been felt in any part of the country many of which were not noticed. Kerala falls within Zone Three of the National Earthquake Zonation Map where earthquakes of magnitude 5.5 on the Richter scale are a possibility but the chance for the earthquakes like the ones that hit North Indian states are a rare possibility.
Meanwhile, the Judicial Commission probing the Solar scam case on Saturday suspended proceedings at its office at Panampilly Nagar here, while examining CPI leader Pannyan Raveendran, after a minor tremor was felt in the area. Justice G Sivarajan stopped the proceedings and asked Pannyan, advocates, staff of the Commission and reporters to move out of the building. Soon, the office functioning on the 8th floor of the Kerala State Housing Board building was vacated.
Later, Justice Sivarajan told reporters that the examination of Pannyan Raveendran would be completed at another sitting. While coming out of the building, Pannyan told reporters, “the tremor felt in the building of the Commission is an indication of the political tremor Kerala is going to experience”.