Andhra Pradesh - Vijayawada   

It was not a quake, say experts

By Our Staff Reporter

VIJAYAWADA, SEPT.13. The "earth tremors" that left the residents of Krishna Lanka area here in panic since Sunday evening, turned out to be a "mere hydrological phenomenon, no way connected with seismic activities" according to experts of the Hyderabad-based, National Geological Research Institute (NGRI).

Site inspected

An NGRI team led by senior geological scientist, R. K. Chaddha, reached this conclusion after inspecting the area and the Prakasam barrage to study the reasons for the "tremors".

"I can say categorically that the phenomenon has nothing to do with seismic activity. It is just a local phenomenon due to release of water from the barrage," Dr. Chaddha told the mediapersons after the inspection.

Excess water release

He explained that the release of excess water from the barrage resulted in "high frequency vibrations", which was felt in the houses lined up close to the river.

Since Sunday evening the authorities had been releasing excess water from the barrage into the sea.

Since water released from a higher to a lower level flows with a considerably high velocity, some vibration is bound to be felt in and around the region. Such vibrations could also be felt when the earth is dug for drawing groundwater.

"It is a very common phenomenon and we regularly experience such vibrations in Hyderabad at places like Banjara Hills and Jubilee Hills," he said.

Dr. Chaddha clarified that Vijayawada was not located in a seismic zone as was being speculated in certain quarters. Places like Gujarat and the Himalayan regions were located in the Zone V which were highly vulnerable, whereas Andhra Pradesh fell under the category II and III, which is less earthquake-prone.

The senior hydrologist of the State Groundwater Department, Vijaya Sarathy, also said it was a purely hydrological phenomenon. Such vibrations, he said, take place due to the changes that usually occur in the soil when water is released after a long gap.

The Joint Collector, P. Sampath Kumar, the Municipal Commissioner, V. Usha Rani, the Superintendent Engineer, I.S.N. Raju and the Vijayawada Rural Mandal Revenue Officer, V. Srinivas Rao, accompanied the NGRI experts during the inspection.

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