COLOMBO (NewsRadio); Another minor tremor of magnitude 2.3 has been reported from Buttala, Wellawaya this morning.
The Disaster Management Centre said the tremor was recorded at around 3am today.
Meanwhile, yesterday a 3.0 magnitude tremor was recorded in Buttala, Wellawaya and several areas in Monaragala.
The Disaster Management Centre said there was no potential danger to lives due to the tremor and requested the general public to remain calm.
According to NewsRadio regional correspondents certain villages experienced at least three tremors.
Some villagers have claimed that they heard a sound similar to an explosion.
Meanwhile, experts say Sri Lanka should expect bigger earth tremors in future due to the movement of the Indo-Australian tectonic plate.
Professor of Geology at the University of Peradeniya Atula Senaratne said yesterday’s tremor recorded in Buttala, Wellawaya and several areas in Monaragala was also due to the movement of the tectonic plate.
Professor Atula Senaratne said the impact of such tremors is minimal since it happens due to activities some 1,000 miles from Sri Lanka.
Experts have confirmed that the Indo-Australian tectonic plate has already begun splitting into two and the rate in which it has been happening in the past 15 to 20 years has been increased.
Recent massive earthquakes that rocked the Indian Ocean have also signaled the latest step in the formation of a new plate boundary within Earth’s surface.
According to prevailing theories of plate tectonics, the Indo-Australian plate began to deform internally about 10 million years ago.
As the plate moved northwards, the region near India crunched against the Eurasian plate, thrusting the Himalayas up and slowing India down.
Most scientists think that the Australian portion forged ahead, creating twisting tensions that are splitting the plate apart in the Indian Ocean.
Experts say most large earthquakes occur when two plates collide at their boundaries, and one plate slides beneath the other.
By contrast, when plates or portions of plates slip horizontally along a fault line, this usually results in smaller, ‘strike-slip’ earthquakes.
North India has experienced a considerable number of major earthquakes in the past few years but the impact of such on Sri Lanka has been relatively minimal.
