No natural earthquake recorded in Wayanad on August 9, says Ministry of Earth Sciences
Chandigarh, August 10
The National Centre for Seismology (NCS) of the Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES) on Saturday confirmed that no natural earthquake was recorded in Wayanad and adjoining areas by any of the seismographic stations installed in Kerala or its surroundings on Friday—August 9.
According to a statement posted by the ministry, “the felt tremor reported by media sources with rumbling sound may be due to shifting of unstable rock masses accumulated during landslides from one level to another lower level for better stabilisation that have generated subterranean acoustic vibration due to frictional energy”.
‘No need to panic’
“This energy has the potential of propagating up to hundreds of kilometres through subsurface cracks and fractures associated with sub-surface lineaments that may have caused rumbling sounds with ground vibration in the areas as a natural phenomenon in the landslide-prone zones.
“No need of panic due to this acoustic subterranean vibration as no earthquake has been recorded yesterday by the National Seismological Network ascribed to NCS,” it added.
What happened?
According to media reports, an “unnatural thundering sound” at Ambalavayal-Edakkal regions of Wayanad yesterday triggered panic, especially in view of recent landslides.
People frantically rushed out of their homes and many families took shelter in a relief camp in the region after the thundering sound was heard around 10.15 am from regions like Ambalavayal, Edakkal and Sugandhagiri which are around 10 to 20 km from the recent deadly landslide hit Chooralmala - Mundakkai regions, they added.
There were also reports of “similar sounds” from parts of adjacent Kozhikode and Palakkad districts along Western Ghats.
Deadly Wayanad disaster
Multiple landslides on July 30 at Punjirimattom, Mundakkai, Chooralmala, Attamala, Meppadi and Kunhome villages of Wayanad led to one of the deadliest natural disasters in Kerala’s history with hundreds of deaths and injuries.
Heavy rains triggered the collapse of hillsides, resulting in mud, water, and boulders cascading down, making the deadly event as yet another case of extreme weather events.
