Hyderabad: An earthquake measuring 3.0 on the Richter scale was reported on Saturday afternoon in Mahabubnagar district, the National Centre for Seismology (NCS) said. This is the second earthquake to have struck Telangana within a week.
While Mulugu is in north Telangana, Mahabubnagar is in south Telangana. However, scientists from the National Geophysical Research Institute (NGRI), said none of their stations had recorded the tremor. NCS said the earthquake’s epicentre was in Dasarapalle village of Koukuntla mandal and that it occurred at 12.15 pm at a depth of 10 kilometres.
NGRI seismologist Vijay Raghavan told TOI, “We have not recorded the earthquake. Neither our observatory at Uppal nor the Hyderabad station on the NGRI campus or any of our instruments across Telangana or elsewhere recorded the earthquake.”
Recently, a 5.3-magnitude earthquake near Medaram in Mulugu district was recorded by both the NCS and NGRI. Raghavan added, “We haven’t recorded any aftershocks of the Mulugu earthquake.”
Retired NGRI chief seismologist Srinagesh, quoting the NCS, said the 3.0-magnitude quake was recorded near Wanaparthy in the erstwhile Mahabubnagar district. “NGRI has a station in Srisailam. It is surprising that it didn’t record the quake. There is a Nagarkurnool fault nearby where the quake occurred,” he said.
He further added, “Even in Mulugu, aftershocks are bound to happen. There is a need for detailed studies to be conducted.”
Major earthquakes remain relatively infrequent in Telangana despite these minor and moderate earthquakes. The state predominantly falls under Zone II, indicating a low seismic risk. However, areas like Mulugu, situated within the Godavari rift, are classified under Zone III, reflecting a moderate risk.
