Weekend tremors rock Marathwada

The area witnessed over two dozen quakes between  Friday and Monday

AURANGABAD: Fear prevailed in Nanded and adjoining areas following recurrent, low-intensity quakes since Friday morning.

The inhabitants of the city experienced more than two dozen tremors till Monday.

According to the District Collector R Mopalwar, two quakes, measuring 2.1 and 2.3 on the Richter scale, were recorded at the seismological centres in Latur and Hyderabad on Friday.

The first quake occurred at 5.45am and the second quake hit the city at 9.15 am.

No loss of life and property was reported, except cracks in kachcha houses. Mopalwar said, “The government machinery has put on high alert to face any eventuality.”
Nanded, Latur and Osmanabad have been experiencing tremors since March 2007. Tremors were felt in Ausa, Omerga, Kandhar, Nilanga, Chakoor, Renapur and other talukas.

On September 7, two quakes, measuring 4.1 and 1.8 on the Richter scale were reported in Latur and Osmanabad.

The first quake occurred at 12.40pm followed by the low intensity one 14 minutes later.
Many houses in Ausa and Nilanga talukas developed major cracks. Fear-stricken people, including students and government employees were injured while rushing out of their homes, schools and offices.

The residents spent the nights outdoors. The epicentre of the quake was located at Killari, 37 kms away from Latur. On September 30, 1993, Latur had experienced a major earthquake that had destroyed Killari and nearby villages.

Dhananjay Yerekar, geologist and vice-chancellor of the Swami Ramanand Tirth Marathwada University (SRT), Nanded, told DNA, “It is difficult to pinpoint the cause for these tremors as we don’t have the necessary seismological data of the past ten years.

The Geological Survey of India is studying the causes of the quakes. The research had been started two years ago when a quake was reported from the area of Maharashtra adjoining Andhra Pradesh.”

However, Yerekar denied the possibility of any major earthquake in the near future because the mild tremors indicated that it would be a while before the seismic activity built up to a larger scale. He asked people to remain calm.