Two earthquakes rock Palghar, district witnessing series of jolts

MUMBAI: Villagers in Dahanu and Talasari towns continue to experience jolts as two earthquakes of magnitude 3.8 and 2.5 rocked Palghar district on Tuesday.
On Monday too, an earthquake of magnitude 3.5 was recorded in Dhundalwadi village of Dahanu. The region has been experiencing frequent tremors since a few days. Between Friday and Saturday, four tremors were recorded. On Friday, an earthquake measuring 4.0 was recorded in Dahanu, which was the second biggest tremor recorded in the district. The biggest tremor was 4.01 recorded on February 1, 2019. Few houses had developed cracks in the Friday's tremor. District officers inspected these homes.
The series of tremors has led to fear among villagers, who have been sleeping in the open. Awareness programmes are being held to inform villagers about the frequent tremors.
Dhundalwadi, the epicentre of earthquake, has been witnessing mild tremors since November 2018. Scientists from the National Centre for Seismology had studied the frequent tremors in Palghar district and concluded that heavy rains could be responsible for the low-intensity tremors. Scientists found that the enhanced earthquake activities could be triggered by monsoon. The excess rain water seeps into the earth and its movement could be causing tremors, scientists observed.