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'Republic Day quake is more severe than Latur's'

Baroda-based Gujarat Engineering Research Institute is known for earthquake monitoring activities in Gujarat. A couple of hours after the killer quake rocked the Republic of India, GERI director Vinay Brahmbhatt, spoke to Senior Editor Sheela Bhatt. Excerpts from the conversation:

Can you explain today's earthquake?

It's a tectonic movement that has occurred on the Kutch Fault.

For a layman's understanding it's enough to know that the earthquake has occurred in a fault zone of the Kutch.

This is a natural disaster. Even if one fears quakes, one has to face it.

Did anyone anticipate this quake? Because late last year the region experienced tremors for a while.

No one, I repeat no one, can predict earthquakes.

Can you predict heart attacks? If someone is claiming so, he is lying.

We are monitoring earthquakes since long. Actually last week, Khavda, a border town of Kutch, experienced tremors that measured 3.0 and 4.0 on the Richter Scale.

We were aware of the movements beneath the fault zone of the Kutch. These activities continue under the surface of earth. But we can't say anything before it jolts us with tremors of higher magnitude. Really, this is a natural phenomenon and unpredictable.

Is this Republic Day killer quake more intense and dangerous than the one that devastated Latur?

Oh, this was more severe in magnitude, heavier and more intense. Actually in Gujarat, this kind of disaster has occurred after a long time.

This time, according to our estimates, it was 7.0 on the Richter scale and rocked the total area of western India.

Kutch is in a quake-prone zone. Only, this time the tremors were intense.

Do you expect any after-tremors?

I told you, no one can predict earthquakes. Regarding after-tremors, yes and no.

They are possible. We may or may not get tremors. We are in touch with the meteorological department; but phone connections are dead, so we are working against the odds. We are waiting for reports. Electricity and phone lines have collapsed.

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