BENGALURU: Seismologists and experts have warned that the frequent earthquakes and tremors occurring in Kodagu is a sign of an impending disaster that should not be ignored while assuming that the Deccan Plateau, which is the oldest land formation, is the safest region in seismological terms.
After studying the nature of tremors and their increasing frequency, the experts have forecast at least a 100 vibrations in the region in the coming days, about which the government needs to take a serious view to mitigate casualties in case of a larger seismic disaster. While they said since earthquakes are up to magnitude 3.0 on the Richter Scale there is nothing to worry about, they also cautioned against ignoring the tremors. They said the floods, landslides and now the earthquakes in the region are a warning sign to be cautious, while pointing out that the fragile Western Ghats region is not safe.
These observations have been made by a team of experts which visited the region over the past few days to take stock of the situation. Their observations are based on the assessments they made over the last week and on the number of earthquakes that have occurred.The visiting experts were seismologists, disaster management cell officials and local administration officials.
The team has also expressed concerns over the earthquakes during the monsoon period. “At present they are occurring after the rain. The rainfall also being recorded in the region is around 6 cm. We are worried if rain of 12-15 cm occurs for 3-4 days and an earthquake occurs at the same time. Then there will be more disasters. Unable to do anything to avoid this, all we are doing is praying,” said a local administration official.
An official from National Centre of Seismology, who wished not to be named, said: “If the number of earthquakes and vibrations intensifies, then it is a matter of concern. Then there is an urgent need to study the waves and the faults. However, the government should not relax. A close monitoring of the situation is required.”
‘Quarries a cause of worry’
Another member of the inspection team from Karnataka State Natural Disaster Monitoring Centre said portable devices to record seismic activities have been kept at Chembu to record quakes within a radius of 8 km.A seismic expert said: “Since Deccan Plateau is the oldest and hardest rock formation, one cannot relax assuming that nothing would happen. The rising number of quarries is a matter of worry, too. Western Ghats is fragile and is prone to disasters. Kodagu is an alarm of disasters in the making.”
A seismologist explained the illegal quarrying which used to happen in the reserve forest near the region could be one of the causes. “Even as the local administration stopped it eight months ago, gaps in the underground layers have already been created. If you see, the depth (of the earthquake epicenter) is 10 km and below. So unless the gaps are filled, the earthquakes will occur.”