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A
light earthquake struck the Kottayam
region in Kerala, India, on 7 January
2001 at 08:25 AM local time resulting in two deaths and some
damage to property in parts of central Kerala. It had a
magnitude of Mw=4.6 and was felt for close to
27-seconds in parts of the states of Kerala and Tamil Nadu.
The earthquake
was centred 5.8
kilometres SW of Puduveli (Kerala), India,
18.8 kilometres NW of Palai (Kerala), India,
22.7 kilometres NNE of Kottayam (Kerala), India,
41.5 kilometres SE of Kochi (Kerala), India,
41.7 kilometres NE of Alaphuza (Kerala), India,
46.3 kilometres W of Idukki (Kerala), India,
141 kilometres SSW of Coimbatore (Tamil Nadu),
India,
151 kilometres NNW of Thiruvananthapuram (Kerala), India.
Two people were killed and 10 injured in
this earthquake. A 68-year old
man, Ericadu Vasu, died of a heart attack at Puthupally, near
Kottayam, Kerala after panicking when he felt the shock.
In Tamil Nadu, a wall
collapsed at Kadayam, crushing a 2-year
old child to death and injuring 2 others.
Seven persons were injured at Vayala in Kottayam district when the
broken asbestos sheets of a church fell on the congregation
attending Sunday Mass. The sheets shattered when the cross on the
roof broke loose and fell upon them. In
another case, a woman at Anikad near Muvattupuzha in Ernakulam
district was injured by falling roof tiles.
The
main earthquake was felt in Kottayam, Pathanamthitta, Idukki
and Ernakulam districts of southern Kerala. Patients from a block in
the Kottayam Medical College Hospital ran out in fear. People at
Nedumkandam in Idukki district said the tremor was stronger and
much longer in duration
as compared to the tremor on 12
December 2000. Cracks
developed in buildings in several places in Kerala, including
at Ponnmudi, Thenmala and Idukki. Panic gripped pilgrims who
have converged at Sabarimala for the coming Makaravilaku festival,
when the quake hit. The floor of the police barracks at Sabarimala
developed fissures while the asbestos roof of the government
hospital at Sannidhanam fell down. Two
buildings near the Malikappuram Devi temple, functioning as
the police barracks and mess, developed
hairline cracks. The pillars of the building housing the Devaswom
Cloak Room, on the banks of Pampa river, also developed cracks.
This tremor was also felt in Tamil Nadu
at Theni, Virudhunagar, Tuticorin and Tirunelveli in the
south and at Coimbatore and Nilgiris in
the west. The quake lasted 27 seconds at
Bodinaickanur town and the surrounding areas, while
at Thekkadi, near where the Mullaperiyar
dam is situated, it lasted 14 seconds. In Tuticorin and its suburbs,
the tremors lasted five seconds, and it was also felt
at Pollachi and areas in and around
Coimbatore.
A mild aftershock was felt around 9 AM local time lasting between
2-10 seconds. There were reports of
repeated tremors in Erattupetta which forms part of Kottayam
district. |
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References
01)
International Seismological Centre (ISC),
Berkshire.
02) India Meteorological Department (IMD),
Delhi.
03)
Macroseismic information has been compiled by
the ASC from reports by local media and local NGO personnel.
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