The Earthquake of magnitude 5.1 on the Richter scale jolts the Bay of Bengal . It seen along the East coast this Tuesday 24 August 2021, causing mild tremors in Chennai. According to The National Institute of Seismology ( NCS ), the earthquake was reported at 12:35 pm in the Bay of Bengal at a depth of about 10 km. It is about 296 km south-southeast of Kakinada and 312 km south- southeast of Rajahmundry in Andhra Pradesh could be identified as the epicenter.
Since the quake was in the vicinity of Andhra Pradesh the tremors were felt in Chennai as well as Thiruvannur and Alwarpet. The netizen took over different social media platforms to report about the Earthquake. They also stated clearly that no warning for Tsunami was issued. The residents of Kakinada abruptly felt their ceiling fans jiggling . They also experienced other stuff falling off their respective shelves. The tremors were felt by the folks for hardly a few seconds by the people.
5.1 Magnitude Earthquake After Effects
Few of them explained that the quake lasted just for a couple of seconds without any damage as such. In the metro city Chennai, the tremors were felt in some regions. People residing in areas such as Adyar and neighboring Thiruvanmiyur took their Twitter handle to post that they felt mild tremors, with some users referring to a furniture shaking experience. It could have awakened people who were sleeping and possibly windows and doors were disturbed. But there are no reports as such of casualties as a result of the earthquake
Earlier the Indian meteorological department has said that low-intensity quakes are familiar to the Bay of Bengal and they pose no threat. nevertheless it comes under category 7 which is considered very strong but non-destructive.
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Science Behind Earthquakes
According to the reports of The Hindu set forth that the region falls under the subduction zone. It is the zone where the borderline of the Indian and Burmese tectonic plates meet and one plate moves under another. The zone remains active and releases energy through low-intensity earthquakes quoting no major earthquakes can happen here. The movement along the Fault line causes a quick dissipation of energy which is the reason behind an earthquake. And the point of source of the quake is known as the focus point . The location directly above the point of focus on the surface of the earth is the epicenter.
The Bureau of Indian Standard groups Tamil Nadu clearly states that it is under zone 3 seismic zones which means the place is relatively less vulnerable to earthquakes. Usually, zone 4 and zone 5 are majorly prone to earthquakes. It is noted that Chennai has rarely experienced any powerful earthquakes. Even when it has the quakes occurred in faraway places for instance the one in 2009 and another in 2012.
This time the magnitude is 5.1 quakes is felt which is quite trifling. conventionally more than 6 on the Richter scale has a devastating effect and when the scale crosses magnitude 7 it results in a total catastrophe.
Researchers are still curious to investigate the possibility of any new emerging tectonic plates. The National Institute of Oceanography (NIO) will run a study to know the reason behind the earthquake.
