Over 10 minor tremors of less than one magnitude on the seismograph are being recorded almost every day in Kodagu by the temporary Seismic Monitoring Observatory that was installed on August 23 by the National Geographical Research Institute, Hyderabad (CSIR-NGRI) at Navodaya Vidyalaya, 8 km from Madikeri.
Scientist Vijaya Raghavan of NGRI, Hyderabad, said the seismograph was installed after a team from the institute visited Kodagu to conduct a geotechnical study. “Going by the seismographic reports that we have received since then, over 10 minor tremors of less than one magnitude are being reported almost every day both west and south west of Navodaya Vidyalaya. We believe the tremors are landslide induced. They are too minor to make any impact, but they have been reported to the district administration,” Mr Raghavan told Deccan Chronicle.
According to Isaac P.M., principal of Navodaya Vidyalaya, the tremors are reported around Madikeri, Gaalibeedu, Kaaluru, Hebbatgere, and Mannangeri in Kodagu. Gangaram Baderia, principal secretary and Relief Commissioner, revenue department (disaster management), said that the tremors were highly localised and shallow. “Such tremors lose their energy locally and generally do not travel over large distances, often being limited to just 10 to 15 km or a maximum of 20 km,” he said, when contacted.
