Why is Maharashtra experiencing an earthquake swarm? | Explained
There has been a spate of small earthquakes in Maharashtra over the last fortnight; seismologists call this pattern of quakes an earthquake swarm, and Maharashtra has experienced them often before
Over the past week, Maharashtra has experienced a series of minor earthquakes, according to local accounts. Out of the 29 tremors, 24 occurred near Nashik, four near Palghar, and one in Nagpur. The strongest quake, measuring 4.3 on the Richter scale, struck Nagpur on August 8. Despite their intensity, these seismic events were also shallow, occurring at depths of 5-8 kilometers.
Seismologists describe this pattern of frequent, minor quakes as an earthquake swarm, a phenomenon that Maharashtra has faced numerous times before. An earthquake, fundamentally, is the abrupt displacement of rocks along a fault—a crack or weak area in the Earth's crust. In certain regions, friction can impede the smooth sliding of two rock blocks past one another.
Written by urgent.news from The Hindu - Sci-Tech's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
