A minor earthquake was felt in Salem on Sunday morning. The city recorded 3.3 Richter scale low intensity tremors. No casualties or major damage to property was reported.
According to reports, mild tremors were felt in Omalur, Kadayampatti and Tharamangalam areas, at around 7.45 am, on Sunday. People living in these areas felt the tremors and rushed outside their houses.
Soon after the earthquake, the Indian Meteorological department tweeted with the coordinates and the magnitude of the quake.
“Earthquake of Magnitude:3.3, Occurred on:22-07-2018, 07:47:31 IST, Lat:11.6 N & Long: 78.1 E, Depth: 15 Km, Region:Distt. - Salem Tamilnadu,” said the tweet.
Earthquake of Magnitude:3.3, Occurred on:22-07-2018, 07:47:31 IST, Lat:11.6 N & Long: 78.1 E, Depth: 15 Km, Region:Distt. - Salem Tamilnadu pic.twitter.com/C5Y7cTWnM2
— IMD-Earthquake (@IMD_Earthquake) July 22, 2018
The epicentre of the quake is 15 kms deep into the earth.
Dispelling the rumours that the water level in Mettur dam caused the tremors, Tamil Nadu Weatherman posted on Facebook saying that the water level in the dam and the tremor were not related.
“I have been collecting data on earthquake for some 15 years now. The earthquake which happened today morning in Salem was of very low intensity (refer photo of what a 3.3 scale quake can do). Already rumors are floating that Mettur dam water levels is one of the reasons for earthquake, its absolute crap thing to say, then Mettur dam has reached full level 39 times, then 39 quakes should have happened and also all the dam areas in India which is seeing increased water level should be seeing earthquakes. These are crap things which one should never forward when you u receive in whatsapp. Always remember you do have responsibility in stopping unnecessary rumors,” the post said.
The water level in Mettur dam has been rising steadily over the last few days and crossed 117 feet out of the Full Reservoir Level (FRL) of 120 feet on Sunday morning. The District Collector of Salem, Rohini Bhajibhakare announced that the discharge of water from Mettur dam will be increased to 30,000 cusecs from 8 pm on Sunday and hence advised people living in lowlying areas in the vicinity of Mettur dam to move to higher areas.