The Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) and the National Geophysical Research Institute (NGRI) have jointly installed a Global Positioning System (GPS)-based instrument in Ongole, which comes under seismic zone III, for a better understanding of the motion and deformation of the Indian plate.
The instrument, connected to a space-based satellite navigation system, transmits near real-time data to the NGRI observatory, according to Dr. D. Srinagesh, NGRI scientist and head of the seismology observatory. The GPS site is located on C.S.R. Sarma College premises.
The Ongole region, where an earthquake of a magnitude of five in the Richter scale occurred in the 1950s, comes under the moderate damage risk zone. The instrument, Dr. Srinagesh said, enabled experts to study the rate at which tectonic plate moved.
No major seismic activity has been reported so far from the region but for tremors measuring of 1.5 to 2 on the Richter scale in its vicinity in recent times. Allaying fears, he said there was nothing to worry, “as these types of adjustments keep happening from time to time.”
According to a report, most parts of Andhra Pradesh falls in Zones I and II where both vulnerability and damage risk are low. However, Ongole, which is spread over 30 mandals, faced 12 earthquakes in the past 30 years, including two major ones in 1967 and 1959, with magnitudes of 5.4 and 5 on the Richter scale.
