Earthquake of 3.1 Magnitude Jolts Prakasam District

Hyderabad: Mild tremors following an earthquake measuring 3.1 Magnitude on the Richter Scale that struck Addanki in Prakasam district of Andhra Pradesh around 10.35 am, raised concerns on Saturday.

According to Dr Raghavan V, chief scientist at National Geophysical Research of India (NGRI) the mild earthquake occurred on the Gundlakamma fault, which is prone to moderate-level earthquakes between magnitudes of three and five.

"Since Andhra Pradesh and Telangana fall in seismic zones 2 and 3, we don't expect earthquakes greater than magnitude six in this region," he said.

The Gundlakamma fault that covers most of Prakasam district experienced similar earthquakes in the past, with the largest one 5.4 in magnitude reported on March 27, 1967. The last quake (3.7 in magnitude) in Andhra Pradesh occurred on February 25, 2015.

Mulugu district in Telangana was jolted by a rare earthquake, measuring 5.3 on the Richter scale on December 4. This sent shockwaves across Andhra Pradesh. The quake had struck in close proximity to Medaram village in Mulugu at 7.27 am and originated around 40 km below the surface.

Another such incident with an intensity of 3.0 that lasted a few seconds was felt in several parts of Mahbubnagar district on December 7.

However, NGRI did not report it as an earthquake. Raghavan said that it was a 'teleseismic event', a seismic event that occurred far away from the recording station.