News Karnataka
Saturday, February 08 2025
Udupi

Is an Earthquake imminent in our neighborhood?

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Newskarnataka – Udupi

By Sheeja Moodubelle

Udupi: “An earthquake is expected at any time – the sudden rising of clean and pure ground water is most probably a sign of an imminent earthquake”, said Dr Raveendra, Deputy Director of the Department of Mines and Geology expert. 


The gradual rise of the underground water at Parkala initially created amazement among the residents; however the official statement, that there are chances of an earthquake in the area has created a panic situation among the citizens. 

Experts from Department of Mines, including Senior Geologist – Niranjan, Geologist – Lata Kulkani and Engineer – Nanda visited Parkala area to take samples of water. The team has collected all the necessary information from locals of the Kelaparkala area. 

The experts took samples from the wells belonging to Ravindra Nayak, and Devendra Nayak. Water samples were also taken from Lake, which is near to Satyabayi and Vaman Nayak’s house. They said that “The samples will be sent to Bangalore lab and further studies will be done.”

 

 

Probability:

Dr. Raveendra opined that Udupi and Manipal have considerably better underwater points. Theoretically, when any crack or vibration occurs in the surface layer of the earth, groundwater flows to low-lying region, which then leads to an increase in the water table there.  The experts have declared that areas from Malpe to Agumbe Ghats fall under the sensitive zone, and are most likely to experience an earthquake. It is highly dangerous to build huge structures here, they said.

The change in the earth (Booparivarthane), leads to earthquake. Two years ago, minor tremors were experienced at Thottam and Manipal, Reports indicate that 20 days ago minor tremors were felt at Sangeri too.  Experts said that, there might have been be a similar low intensity tremor at Udupi and Manipal also, though the public seem unaware of it, as it was of a low intensity or might have occurred at night. As Manipal is a hilly area,  the layer of the earth might have cracked which prompted the water flow to the low lying area, Parkala, especially Kelaparkala, he added.

In such a situation the pressure of well drilling pipes rise, and water spreads to a small area.  However, in this instance, the water spread to the whole area. As it is a sensitive area, during the rainy season, caution is paramount, said the experts.

 

Local’s Reaction:

Women and children around the locality are amused by the occurrence, Anita, a house wife says that as the lake dries completely during peak summer; it is natural to get such reaction after seeing a sudden rise in the water level, she said. In fact, says Nayak, “plants die completely at this time, initially some people said that a broken municipal water pipeline might be the reason for the increasing water. We are eager to know the real reason behind this.”

 Anasuya, a working woman said there is a varied reaction among people, a few are happy with the rise in the water level, while others are scared that it might be an indication of a natural calamity. I am confused, she said.

 Sathya. A student said that we can see people collecting the water in bottles, as they consider it as Gods miracle. “We want it to be the same”. Even vegetables farmers here are happy to see the excess water. 

 

 

Need:

Costal Karavali especially from Malpe to the Agumbe Ghats has always been a sensitive zone in so far as the possibility of earthquakes is concerned.  There is a crying need of a seismic micro- zone at Udupi to determine precisely the degree of danger.   At present there is only one center in the state – at Gulbarga, It works under the control of central government. It provides information needed or used by the police and is not very useful for geological use, Dr Raveendra said that “we need a lab facility to study the environmental challenges”. 

 

MANY DROPS MAKE AN OCEAN
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