Idukki district experienced a series of mild tremors in the wee hours of Saturday.
The MetCentre Thiruvananthhapuram has put the magnitude of the of the as 3.2 on the Richter scale.
The tremor that hit the area was of slight intensity and the epicentre was 09.7 degree North latitude and 76.9 degree East longitude. The spot lay between Neryamangalam and Pynavu along Pullikkanam –Elappara route. The focus depth was 10 km.
The tremors were felt at Upputhura, Velliamattom, Chappath, Vandiperiyar and other parts of in Idukki district and Poonjar, Erattupetta, Adukkam of the neighbouring Kottayam district. No damage has been reported so far.
Altogether four tremors are reported to have occurred in the district between 3.15 am and 5.44 am.
About two dozen tremors had occurred in the Idukki distirct during the past five months and the recurrence of the tremors has raised concerns about the safety of the Mullaperiyar dam in the district.
Tremors Shake Parts of Kottayam
For the second time in a week, tremors shook parts of Kottayam district bordering Idukki.
Poonjar, Erattupetta, Poonjar Thekkekara, Teekoy, Aukkom, Wagamon, Kondoor areas in the district bordering Idukki felt the impact by 3:15 am. According to P C George, local MLA, the tremor shook the objects in the room. The first shock was followed by after shocks at least three times, he said.
There were reports from Wagamon area of walls of buildings getting cracks during the tremor, he said. Cracks have formed on the walls of St Sebastian’s church During the quake, he said.
Though no major damage was reported so far, people living on the downstream of the Mullaperiyar dam especially in Karinkulam Chappathu, where a relay hunger strike for the decommissioning of the dam entered 1,800 days on Saturday, came out in the open and there were frequent calls to various offices to get the details of the tremor.
Over 20 tremors of mild intensity were felt in the district for the past five months. A senior official of the research division said that 1,284 tremors of mild intensity were recorded since 1970 after monitoring of the tremors was intensified in the district. The tremor of highest intensity of 3.8 on the Richter scale was recorded in 1976.
Hundreds of people under the auspices of the Mullaperiyar Agitation Council blocked the Kottayam-Kattappana road at Karinkulam Chappathu `to protest' the adament stand of the authorities in decommissioning the Mullaperiyar dam and `protecting the lives' of' thousands of people living on the down stream portion of the dam in the wake of the frequent tremors.
