Tremors felt in Bhanvagar district of Gujarat

“We received reports that tremors were felt in some villages. However, there is no  report of any damage to property or human injury,” Vinu Patel, mamlatdar of Palitana said.

Vasant Soni, a resident of Bhavnagar said he himself did not experience the tremors but received a number of phone calls from people in villages where the quake was felt.

The earthquake was experienced more in a few villages of neighbouring Talaja taluka though. “People sent messages on mobile phones telling they experienced quake. However, it was not felt in Talaja town. We have not received any report of damage or injury so far,” sub-divisional magistrate of Talaja Mahipalsinh Chudasama said.

The Institute of Seismological Research (ISR), a Gandhinagar-based organisation of Gujarat government observing seismic activities in the state, confirmed the tremors were recorded in Bhavnagar.

“It was a minor seismic incident. Tremors of this magnitude generally do not cause much damage on the ground. However, people living in the radius of 10 km to 15 km from the epicentre of the quake may experience shaking of the ground,” Bal Krishna Rastogi, director general of ISR told The Indian Express.

The ISR director general further said that Bhavnagar coast has a few minor fault-lines and tremors were results of them.

“Bhavnagar had experienced earthquakes in year 1998 and then in year 2000. The coastline of the district has some small fault-lines and therefore the area is prone to earthquakes. But the tremors of 3.1 magnitude on Richter scale can be classified as micro-earthquake which usually do not cause much upheaval,” said Rastogi.