NATIONAL GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH INSTITUTE TO ANALYSE LATEST EARTHQUAKE RECORDINGS IN KARNATAKA REGIONS

NATIONAL GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH INSTITUTE TO ANALYSE LATEST EARTHQUAKE RECORDINGS IN KARNATAKA REGIONS

Context:

Recently, The Karnataka State Disaster Management Authority (KSDMA) assigned the National Geophysical Research Institute (NGRI) to analyze the latest earthquake recordings in the Karnataka regions of Bidar, Kalaburagi and Vijayapura among other areas after the regions saw an earthquake measuring up to 4.0 on the scale of Richter.

Key Highlights:

• The Karnataka government said a recent study showed that recorded earthquakes in the northern part of the country usually occur post-monsoon season and are related to something called hydro-seismicity.
• The NGRI is dispatching a team of scientists to these places in the next two days to evaluate and assess the field conditions.

Hydro-seismicity:

• Hydro Seismicity is a condition wherein earthquakes are caused due to excess water inflow into already built-up pressure inside the fractures and faults inside the Earth causing hollow sound 
• Such Earthquakes can either be felt or not felt depending on the magnitude recorded on the Richter Magnitude Scale which is usually less than 1.

NGRI:

• It is a geoscientific research organization.
• It was established in 1961 under the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR). It is located in Hyderabad, Telangana.