Mild tremors hit landslide-struck Meppadi village in Kerala’s Wayanad

Residents in Wayanad villages feel vibrations, mild tremors reported in landslide-hit Meppadi panchayat, authorities investigate possible causes.

Kerala’s Revenue department reported mild tremors in several localities in the landslide-hit Meppadi panchayat in Vythiri taluk in Wayanad district of Kerala on Friday (August 9, 2024) noon.

According to initial information from the Kerala government, residents of Anappara, Thazhathuvayalil, Pinangodu and Nemeni villages felt the vibrations. 

The district administration has suspended classes and counselled residents not to panic. A government advisory is likely soon.

The National Centre for Seismology has not detected any significant tremor in Wayanad. The institute works under the India Meteorological Department (IMD). None of its stations and sensors in Kerala has recorded any seismic activity.

Also read | Wayanad landslides: how operators of earth movers have become good Samaritans at disaster zone

An official said “a normal shifting of landmass” might have triggered the tremors. “It could be a localised phenomenon,” he said. 

A Kerala State Disaster Management Authority (KSDMA) official told The Hindu that authorities were examining seismic records to trace the provenance and nature of the tremors in the Pozhuthana region in Wayanad district.