Not quake, sound may be due to shifting of land masses: National Centre for Seismology

Wayanad: No natural earthquake was recorded by any of the seismological stations installed in the state of Kerala or its surroundings on Friday, according to a note issued by the National Centre for Seismology (NCS). The sound may be due to the shifting of land masses, the NCS note said.

The tremors reported by media with sound at Wayanad may be due to the shifting of land masses accumulated during landslides from one level to another lower level for better stabilization of the land masses. During the processes of shifting of land masses, frictional energy could have generated sounds with shaking in the area due to the movement of land masses, which is a natural phenomenon in landslide-prone zones.

The National Centre for Seismology, Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES), New Delhi, has kept a close vigil on the Seismographs installed in and around Kerala within the National Seismological Network. NCS is monitoring round-the-clock activity of natural earthquakes of magnitude 3.0 and above in India and its surroundings, the note said.
As per initial reports, residents communicated of tremors being experienced in areas around Kurichiarmala, Pinangodemoorikap, Ambukuthimala and Edakkal caves. Reports of tremors also came in from different areas of Koodaranji grama panchayath, Manassery, Mampetta and Karassery in Kozhikode.