Hyderabad: Resident of Gachibowli, Financial District and Gopanpally heard rumbling sounds and felt the ground shake several times since Wednesday evening, following the heavy rains that lashed Hyderabad earlier this week.
Panic prevailed among the residents of various colonies and gated communities in the IT corridor areas. However, Hyderabad-based National Geophysical Research Institute (NGRI) seismologists dispelled fears saying that there is no cause for worry. NGRI recorded three micro earthquakes measuring less than 0.8 on Richter scale.
Hearing the sounds and feeling mild tremors on Wednesday evening, people from Gachibowli, Financial District and a few other adjacent localities took to Twitter asking for help from the GHMC. Some residents of the My Home Vihanga residential complex in Financial District claimed to have experienced at least 30-40 episodes of their buildings shaking.
Residents of the TNGOs colony near Gopanpally and the nearby Secretariat colony also heard rumbling sounds and felt the earth shake.
Suspecting the rumbling sounds and tremors felt by the residents to be a result of hydroseismicity, Dr Srinagesh D, chief scientist at NGRI who is an expert in seismology and earthquake hazard, noted that Hyderabad has already recorded 123 cm rainfall, which is 50 percent more than the normal rainfall for an entire year, as the average annual rainfall of Hyderabad is around 80 cm.
Similar phenomenon has been experienced by Borabanda residents since the start of this month due to same reason.
NGRI set up three stations in and around My Home Vihanga and TNGO’s colony phase 2. The area witnessing hydroseismicity was a rocky terrain, reported TOI.
Few residents of My Home Vihanga left the building temporarily even as officials assured that there is no need to panic. However, scientists also said these could recur over the next 3-5 weeks until the water from the rains seeps down and fills up the pores or air pockets created by unbridled drilling of bore wells and water extraction in this area. Experts informed that the thudding sounds and vibrations are a result of the water filling and air escaping with rock layer adjustments, which are a common phenomenon.