Rock blasting in Hambantota causes earth tremors

Wednesday, 06 June 2012 

Continuous earth tremors are experienced in the Hambantota area after the government had taken steps to blast a massive rock in the Hambantota Port without seeking proper advice from geological experts, a senior professor in geology said under conditions of anonymity.

Although geological experts had warned relevant authorities that blasting the rock in the port would result in continuous earth tremors in the area since Hambantota is located near two earth plates, the warnings have been ignored. Authorities have ignored the warnings due to political needs.

The senior professor said that geologists have made a similar warning when former President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunge had tried to build the Hambantota Port. He observed that Kumaratunge had heeded the warnings and decided to make Hambantota the center to supply oil to ships.

However, the Mahinda Rajapaksa administration had ignored all warnings and caste aside the expert reports and decided to build a commercial harbor in Hambantota.

The professor explained that the blasting of the rock has now caused earth tremors in areas in Moneragala, Ampara, Nuwara Eliya, Badulla and Colombo that are marked around 3.4 and 3.6 on the Richter scale.

According to the professor, buildings could be damaged and lives could be lost if an earth tremor above 4 in Richter scale takes place in these areas.