The seismology map of NCS showing the epicentre of the 4.2M at Amravati.

 

 

 

An earthquake of 4.2 Magnitude jolted many parts of Amravati district on Monday afternoon causing panic among citizens. According to National Centre for Seismology (NCS), the quake was felt around 1.37 pm in Chikhaldhara, Dharni, Anjangaon Surji and Achalpur tehsils of Amravati district. No loss of life has been reported but some homes, particularly in Chikhaldhara town, have developed cracks. The District Disaster Management Authority has appealed to the citizens not to panic and remain vigilant. As per NCS, the epicentre of the earthquake had 13 km depth, and was 183 km away from Nagpur city. The epicentre of this earthquake was between Amzari and Tetu in Chikhaldara tehsil of the district. People reported that things suddenly started to move as earth beneath their feet shook. Realising that it was an earthquake, people ran out of their homes and offices and took refuge in open spaces. Dharni in Melghat, Katkumbh, Churni, Khatkali, Semadoh, Harisal in Chikhaldara tehsil received mild tremors.

 

The tremors were also experienced in parts of Paratwada city and Dharni in Akot areas of the district, informed Amravati’s Resident Deputy Collector Anil Bhatkar. Gajanan Rajgade, In-charge Tehsildar of Chikhaldhara informed that the wall of Sachin Gorle’s house in Chikhaldara town suffered extensive damages due to the tremor. He said that no major damage had been reported and all information had also been sent to the Collector’s office. According to Geological Survey of India (GSI), the quake was of 4.2M which took place at Gavilgarh Fault Zone. GSI will conduct a field inspection and then collect information about the causes of the earthquake or tremor and other necessary matters. GSI is likely to conduct a study also to know the cause of frequent earthquakes on this fault. Gavilgarh Fault Zone in central India is still prone to seismic activity. Previously, Sadrabadi and Zilphi villages of Dharni taluka in Amravati district experienced small magnitude earthquakes between September 1, 2018 and December 9, 2018.

 

Indian Academy of Sciences conducted a study in Amravati to know the reason behind the repeated swarm earthquakes in Amravati in 2018 and it found that the swarm earthquakes might have been induced by the percolation of monsoonal rainwaters through the cracked volume of soil or rock, associated with the fault system of the Narmada-Son lineament rift region. However, this 4.2M earthquake is a matter of study because Seoni district of Madhya Pradesh is also situated on the extension of the same fault had also observed swarm earthquakes on September 1 and 2 this year. The repeated quakes should be a matter of study, said a senior GSI scientist to The Hitavada. He further said that the Gavilgarh Fault Zone has a rock type of Basalt and it comes under the Seismic Zone III. The Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) groups India into four seismic zones -- Zone II, Zone III, Zone IV and Zone V -- based on scientific inputs about the region’s tectonic set-up, past earthquakes, and seismicity. Of these, Zone V is seismically the most active region, while zone II is the least. However, Amravati and Nagpur districts were in Zone II previously but now the Gavilgarh Fault Zone comes under the Zone III category which is considered a moderate damage risk zone.