Tremors rattle parts of Maharashtra in India (developing)

rediff.com ^ | March 14, 2005 16:27 IST | A Correspondent in Mumbai

[ekidsohbelaas]

Tremors rattled Mumbai and parts of Maharashtra at around 1514 IST on Monday.

Though details are awaited, rediff.com received calls from Pune, Kolhapur, Sangli, Satara and Karad reporting tremors.

Tremors were felt in parts of neighbouring Goa and Karnataka too.

Initial reports said the earthquake, measuring 5.1 on the Richter Scale, was centered around Koyna in western Maharashtra.

Konya is an area prone to seismic activity.

"The quake measured 5.1. The epicentre of the quake, which occurred at 1514 IST, is in Koyna region. We are still looking into other details," an official at the Indian Meteorological Department in New Delhi said.

The epicentre of the quake is at 17.2 degree North Latitude, 73.7 degree East Longitude, he said.

There was panic in Nariman Point business district in Mumbai, with people rushing out of multi-storied office buildings.

"Kucha-pucca houses may develop cracks, while weaker buildings may fall. Dams are generally built to withstand high intensity quakes. So there is no need to worry about the Koyna dam," the IMD official said.

The Koyna dam is one of the biggest hydro-electric projects in the state.

[Richard Proute]

USGS has it as a 5.8 currently on the Richter Scale.

Depth of the quake was 10 km, which is a very shallow quake.

Webpage for USGS Hazards Program is:

http://neic.usgs.gov/neis/bulletin/bulletin.html

[Strategerist]

That's not the same quake; NEIC isn't listing this one yet.

The NEIC 5.8 quake is a different quake in the middle of the Indian Ocean.

[Richard Proute]

Oops! Post #2 is about a mid-Indian earthquake but it is in the Indian Ocean.

Different quake, so the data on the quake in India is probably only 5.1

USGS takes time in posting info for accuracy.

[Richard Proute]

That's not the same quake; NEIC isn't listing this one yet.

I should have double checked. My mistake for not looking to see where the quake was by looking at the map.

[Strategerist]

Yeah, it's tricky.

EMSC and Red Puma both have it as a 5.6. They're faster than NEIC but not as reliable.

http://www.emsc-csem.org/

http://www.seismo.ethz.ch/redpuma/redpuma_ami_list.html

[Gengis Khan]

Hey I even felt the tremors about a couple of hours ago.

[Gengis Khan]

BTW I am in Pune.

[Srirangan]

Tremors rock parts of Maharashtra
NDTV

Monday, March 14, 2005 (Mumbai):

An earthquake measuring 5.1 on the Richter Scale hit the Koyna region in Maharashtra today. The tremors were felt in Mumbai and Pune among other places.

The epicentre of the quake was located at 17 degrees latitude and 74 degrees longitude in quake-prone Koyna region, which includes Satara district. Several high rises in Mumbai and its suburbs were evacuated as a safety measure.

Tremors spread panic

The tremors, which were felt around 3.14 pm, shook furniture and glass panes in buildings as people rushed out in fear. "Someone was standing on the terrace and he said there seems to be an earthquake because everything started shaking. Then the lift stopped," said a panic-stricken local.

"Yes, I felt the earthquake. Everything in my shop was shaking," said another resident. According to the state government's disaster management cell, no casualties or damage to property have been reported so far.

Mumbai fire brigade sources said there had been no distress calls after the tremors. (With PTI inputs)

[Gengis Khan]

http://ww1.mid-day.com/news/city/2005/march/105568.htm
http://www.outlookindia.com/pti_news.asp?id=285888

[Gengis Khan]

http://www.expressindia.com/fullstory.php?newsid=43206

[UCANSEE2]

Man, things are acting up a bit today. Yesterday was relatively quiet.