Team of GSI inspecting affected areas with district administration in Seoni district.
By Kaushik Bhattacharya :
Geological Survey of India (GSI), Central Region is planning to conduct micro earthquake survey of Seoni district of Madhya Pradesh to decipher the focal depth of seismic event that took place few days ago in Seoni. A 3.3 magnitude earthquake was recorded in Seoni district recently and the tremors were also felt in Nagpur. However, there were no reports of any casualty or damage recorded by district administration. The tremors were felt around 4.10 am. National Centre for Seismology (NCS) said that the epicentre of the earthquake was 20-25 kms from Seoni and 96 kms of North-Northeast Nagpur.
The earthquake occurred at the depth of 15 kms. According to GSI, Seoni comes under seismic zone II which is low damage risk zone. The earthquake shock in zone II is usually so feeble that it can be experienced only by sensitive instruments. According to GSI, the place of incident have thick lava profile with strong basement rock (Gneiss). Since, the magnitude of the reported tremor was less, GSI assumed that such minor event may not affect the property and life of the people in the region. However, if similar incidence happens frequently in future, the survey is needed to know about the seismic activities, said Rashtrapal Chavhan, Director and PRO, GSI, Nagpur to The Hitavada.
Chavhan said, “District administration of Seoni must draw up a community disaster mitigation plan appraising local people about causes of earthquake phenomenon including the Dos and Don’ts’ during seismic events.” GSI, Jabalpur office which comes under the Central Region has been communicated recommendations to the administration in these lines after conducting investigations of acoustic sound and ground vibrations in Seoni district, said Janardhan Prasad, Additional Director, GSI, Central and Southern Regions. Prasad said, “Event location does not fall exactly on Gavilgarh fault but on a sympathetic fault running parallel of the fault.” According to GSI, Nagpur region also comes under the safest zone but seismic activity monitoring is needed to avoid any major event in the region.