Kerala’s Idukki district experienced multiple instances of tremors on Friday. The tremors occurred at 7.05 am, 8.55am, 9.31am, 9.46am, 12.33pm,1.58 pm and 10.16 pm.
The tremor at 9.31am recorded a maximum intensity on the Richter scale of 2.81. Another tremor at 1.58 pm recorded 2.8 on the Richter scale. The epicentre of the tremors was found to be near Nedumkandam in Idukki, Kerala State Electricity Board Limited (KSEB) dam safety wing officials said.
Friday’s tremors reportedly damaged several homes in Idukki. Cracks formed in the walls of the home of Moonanappallil Georgekutty, a resident of Valiathovala near Kattappana in Idukki. In addition, cracks also formed in other homes in Nedumkand and at a lower primary school.
The district had previously experienced tremors on three consecutive days on February 27, 28 and 29. On February 27, the tremors occurred at 2.33 pm and 10.15 pm in the Idukki dam catchment area, though it was not recorded on the Richter scale. A third tremor near the dam catchment area was then recorded at 2.1 on the Richter scale.
Bibin Joseph, the director (Generation - Civil) of the KSEB, told TNM, "We have informed the Central Water Commission (CWC) and demanded that they conduct an emergency study of the region. In addition, we have informed the National Geophysical Research Institute (NGRI) and asked them to inspect the reason behind the repeated tremors."
“Tremors have occurred in the region in previous years. But the repeated tremors are now creating fear among the residents of the region. To avoid these issues, a high-level study is needed. The first tremor occurred in the region on February 27 and then repeated tremors were felt in the dam premises of Idukki. One of the tremors recorded in Richter scale 2.81 on Friday," he said.
He continued, "There is no relation to the present water level in the Idukki reservoir and the repeated tremors. The present water level in the reservoir is over 60 percent of the total storage. However, in 2018, the water level touched over 95 percent of the total storage and we did not feel any tremors in the region at that time. But we need a high-level study to get a clear picture of the repeated tremors," he continued.
Just two weeks ago, S Supriya, the chief engineer of the Kerala dam safety research wing, led an expert team to inspect the tremors in the catchment area of the dam. The team included deputy engineer Joji George Mathew and chief engineer Aloysius Paul. They inspected the Idukki dam arch, the Cheruthoni dam and the gallery.
Bibin noted that no issues were found in the dam area following the tremors.