Earthquakes hit Kutch, Amreli in Gujarat

Ahmedabad: Two tremors of 3.8 and 3.3 magnitude hit Gujarat's Kutch and Amreli districts respectively on Monday, officials from the Institute of Seismological Research (ISR) said.

There was no report of any casualty or property damage, as per the district authorities.

A tremor of 3.8 magnitude was recorded at 10.49 am in Kutch district. Its epicentre was 62 km north-north east of Lakhpat town in Kutch, at a depth of 15 km, they said.

Another tremor of 3.3 magnitude was recorded near Mitiyala village in Amreli district at 1.42 am on Monday, at a depth of 7.1 km, the officials from the Gandhinagar-based ISR said.

This was the fifth tremor in Amreli in the last one week in the intensity range of 3.1 to 3.4, they said.

Amreli district, located in the Saurashtra region, has been witnessing an “earthquake swarm” event, as in last two years it has recorded around 400 mild tremors, as per officials.

A swarm, is a sequence of mostly small earthquakes, which are usually short-lived, but they can continue for days, weeks, or sometimes even months and often recur at the same locations.

Kutch district experienced a devastating earthquake in January 2001 in which 13,800 people were killed and another 1.67 lakh were injured. The earthquake had caused severe damage to properties in various towns and villages of the district.