Taking note of the frequent tremors striking a few villages in Kalaburagi district in the past couple of weeks, a team of scientists from the National Geophysical Research Institute (NGRI) visited the area and took stock of the situation.
The team comprised seismologists Suresh and Shashidhar from NGRI and Ramesh and Abhinaya from Karnataka State Disaster Management Authority. Associate scientist Anaveerappa Biradar from Sharan Sirasagi Seismic Centre in Kalaburagi was also present.
When the scientists were at Gadikeshwar in Chincholi taluk, which reported more damage than the other villages, the area saw another mild tremor whose intensity, as per the scientists, was less than 1.0 magnitude on the Richter Scale.
The scientists later put up a seismometer as a temporary arrangement at Gadikeshwar to record the motion of the ground during an earthquake. They said that the instrument will record the movement of the earth during an earthquake and send the information directly to NGRI headquarters in Hyderabad. The data, scientists said, will help decide the steps to be taken. They briefed about the functioning of the seismometer for the local officials present at the site and arranged for a and demonstration.
Lok Sabha member from Kalaburagi Umesh Jadhav and Sedam MLA Rajkumar Patil Telkur stayed at Gadikeshwar for a night on Saturday to infuse confidence among villagers who were frightened by the frequent tremors. Dr. Jadhav said that he heard a strong sound from the earth at about 4 a.m. on Sunday.
As part of confidence-building measure, Kalaburagi Deputy Commissioner Vijaya Jyothsna stayed at Hosalli (H), another tremor-hit village in Kalagi taluk, on Saturday, as part of her regular village stay programme.
