Revision as of 16:21, 31 December 2020

Cyclones

2016: "Vardah"

The Hindu, December 9, 2016

Sanjib Kumar Roy

Cyclonic storm Vardah brought normal life in a standstill in Andamans

Tourists still stranded as Havelock island remains unreachable

Havelock island remained unreachable for the second day on Thursday as the depression over the Andaman Sea intensified into cyclonic storm ‘Vardah’. Two passenger vessels of the Andaman Shipping Services, MV Rani Lakshmi and MV Kamorta, were sent to Havelock to evacuate nearly 1,100 tourists, but both the vessels had to return to Port Blair because of high waves in the sea.

Later, cargo vessel MV Badam was also sent to Havelock with supplies and medicines but had to return because of bad weather conditions. Sources said there were efforts to send Coast Guard vessels to Havelock to evacuate the tourists but bad weather put paid to this as well.

Impact

Locals extend help

Vessels of the Indian Navy, which had been sent to Havelock, were called back considering their safety at sea in the high waves.

Meanwhile, the local administration directed hotel and restaurant owners to help tourists by extending their bookings and by providing free food, whenever possible. While nearly 1,100 tourists are stranded at Havelock and 400 tourists continue to be stranded at Neil island, tourists stuck in the Port Blair area complained about poor coordination from the Tourism Department and lack of awareness about helpline centres for tourists.

They also complained of problems in extending bookings in hotels. In a video statement, Lieutenant Governor of Andaman & Nicobar Islands Jagdish Mukhi today claimed, “All tourists are safe. They could not be brought back to Port Blair only [upon] considering their safety.”

Landslides

Cyclone Vardah played havoc in many remote Islands, bringing normal life to a standstill. In the north and middle Andaman region, various islands like Diglipur, Rangat and Billyground witnessed a flood-like situation because of very heavy rainfall.

The movement of vehicles on the Andaman Trunk Road was disrupted in various places in middle and north Andaman due to flooding in low-lying areas. There were reports of landslides along the Andaman Trunk Road. The cyclone blew away roofs of several dozen houses and damaged crops in north and middle Andaman. Snapping of power cables has left many areas without power for more than two days.

The Deputy Commissioner of South Andaman, Udit Prakash Rai, said the administration would compensate those who had suffered loss because of the weather conditions.

The administration has suspended helicopter and shipping services. Some flights landed at Port Blair while many others were cancelled. The airport witnessed frayed tempers when SpiceJet cancelled its flight after passengers had boarded the aircraft.

Earthquakes

After ’04 tsunami

Chandrima Banerjee, December 29, 2020: The Times of India

An earthquake with 10-minute-long waves is quite unusual. Many like it, in quick succession, even more so. But beneath the Andaman Sea near Nicobar, the 2004 earthquake and tsunami has set off a series of intermittent earthquake swarms that also indicate simmering volcanic activity. Scientists at the CSIR-National Institute of Oceanography in Goa on the research ship RV Sindhu Sankalp conducted a passive ocean bottom seismometer experiment for the first time in Indian waters.

They found 141 high-frequency earthquakes and swarms (bursts of quakes with a short period of time, ranging from hours to days) in areas where three faults — the Andaman Nicobar Fault, the West Andaman Fault and strands of the Great Sumatra Fault — meet.

Major swarms had occurred in the off Nicobar region in the Andaman Sea over five different periods — in January 2005, March 2014, October 2014, November 2015 and March 2019 — their study, published in Nature’s Scientific Reports this month, said.

They were really long. “The March 2014 swarm, for instance, had lasted 48 hours,” lead author Aswini KK told TOI. The swarm in January 2005 was the strongest ever recorded globally. Some earthquakes in 2014 had long period signals, like the 600-second signal they got. “This is rare and suggests the origin of the seismic waves is deep seated, located at a depth in the subsurface, about 30km below the seafloor,” corresponding author Kamesh Raju said. “At that depth, we expect magma at work.”

So while the December 2004 “tsunamigenic megathrust earthquake” itself was a reason, the active volcanism in the area has also been causing some shifts.

Does it mean an eruption might be in the offing? “The studies over the submarine volcanic chain that extends from Barren Island in the north to the onshore volcanoes of Sumatra would provide insights to answer the above question,” Raju said.