Nanded earthquakes
Nanded Earthquakes describes a series of minor earthquakes felt in the Nanded town of Maharashtra, India since 2006[1][2]. These are natural explosive sounds sometimes accompanied by mild tremors. These have been regular occurrences for locals since 2006 with exception being year 2009 when there were no tremors reported. The strongest events were felt on 31 March 2007 and then on 12 November 2007 & 14 December 2007 causing widespread panic. Residents in northern parts of Nanded town that has been worst hit by the tremors moved to safer areas or stayed outdoors in temporarily erected shacks in front of their homes. Over 500 events have been felt since late 2006 to 2008[1].
Nanded is in seismic zone 3[3]. The exact cause of the tremors & explosive sounds is not yet known. It is to be noted that Nanded is very nearer (about 150 Kilo Meters) to Latur where 1993 Latur earthquake took place.
Residents in Nanded panicked and ran out of their homes at 03:17 AM on Thursday March 03, 2011 when they felt earthquake tremors of 3.27 on the Richter scale. People were forced to abandon their homes, to come out on the streets and or open space as there were at least 39 aftershocks within the next 2 hours (from 3:17-5:30 AM) since then, but of lower intensity. The intensity of these shocks was persistently felt by the residents in the areas of Shrinagar colony, Viveknagar, Kailasnagar, Bhagyanagar. Though no causality and damages are reported as of yet, the residents were found terrorized by the tremors. Nanded district collector called for an urgent meeting of muncipal council's section of disaster management. The scientists from the National Geophysical Research Institute, Hyderabad and Geophysical Survey of India, Napur are studying earthquakes in Nanded.