Madikeri rocked by tremor on Wednesday, panicky

Panic gripped Madikeri, the district headquarters of Kodagu, following a minor tremor around 10 am on Wednesday. Indian Meteorological Department (IMD), the nodal agency for monitoring seismic activity in the country, dismissed the tremor as minor.

IMD officials in New Delhi said the intensity of the tremor might have been about 1.9 on the Richter scale. “It may be a minor tremor that could not be recorded,” an official said.

Residents, however, were a worried lot. “We had been assured that there won’t be any earthquake. But now, this has happened,” said KM Srinivas, a resident. Another resident, MA Bopanna, said, “This may be a warning for the future. I can vouch that nothing of the sort ever happened in the past.”