Mild tremor jolts Thuraiyur

TRICHY: A mild tremor registering 3.6 on the Richter scale jolted Thuraiyur and nearby villages, causing minor cracks in some buildings on Tuesday morning.
Residents in the 14 villages of the area felt a mild tremor at 10.19 am for a few seconds and rushed outside, converging in open places in panic. Anticipating further tremors, all the schools in Thuraiyur area sent their students home soon after classes commenced on Tuesday morning.Residents from Hospital road, Trichy road, Chithiraipatti and Sorathur areas said they were shaken by the incident.
D Babu Devairakkam, project officer of disaster management in Trichy told TOI that the tremor measured 3.6 on the Richter scale with the epicentre 10 km below the sea surface. It was registered in the seismology centre in Salem. Tiruchirappalli region falling under seismic zone III was classified as a moderate damage risk zone. There are over 50 stone quarries in the vicinity of Thuraiyur and indiscriminate stone quarrying in the area may be one of the reasons for the tremor, he said. Babu also recalled a study conducted by the Bharatidasan University called "Hazard Risk Vulnerability Assessment" which revealed a fact about a thin crack also known as 'lineament fault' between Pudhukkottai and Kattumannar Kovil. According to the study, it would not wreak havoc.
The tremor was felt in six villages near Kunnam area in Perambalur district, but no damage was reported. P Manickam, district revenue officer of Trichy district, visited the Thuraiyur area.