Residents along a two-kilometer stretch of coastal Purakkad in Alappuzha panicked as the sea receded by 50 meters early Tuesday morning. According to local residents, the sea has receded along a 500-meter-long stretch from Ayyankoikkal to SDV school, south of the Purakkad beach.

The incident reported around 6:30 am, has caused panic among the residents in the coastal belt, as there was a similar phenomenon on December 26, 2004, shortly before the tsunami struck.

As the sea remains in a receded position, fishing boats have been unable to approach the beach. A few boats are also left stranded on the sandbank.

Local fishermen, meanwhile, report that the sea had witnessed unusual tidal activity hours before the incident. They are also hopeful that the sea will bring in a Chakara (mud bank phenomenon) upon returning to the beach.

While some locals attribute the event to annual high tides, others raise concerns about ecological changes possibly linked to climate change.

“This is a phenomenon witnessed every year once or twice as part of high tide. This will continue for one or two days and attains the normal state after a couple of days,” said Xavier Jackson, a local fisherman.

“The water recedes first and then the waves will pound the shores. This is not a one-off phenomenon and a similar episode happened the other night in areas like Poonthala and Karoor. This change should be viewed seriously,” Panchayat President A S Sudarshan said.

However, the Kerala Disaster Management Authority reassured residents, ruling out the possibility of a tsunami and promising to investigate the phenomenon's cause. “There are no earthquake or tsunami warnings issued in the Arabian Sea or Indian Ocean. We’ll study the cause of the phenomenon,” said a senior official.