Kolhapur: A fresh study of the earthquake-prone areas in the Koyna-Warna reservoir area is under way. A team of scientists from the CSIR-National Geophysical Research Institute, Hyderabad, has arrived here and is expected to study the areas where seismic activity has been prevalent at low or medium intensity. The scientists will use the Airborne LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) and photographic data acquisition and processing system for geomorphological and structural studies. The one-month study will focus on the tectonic activities around the Warna and Koyna dams. “The primary goal of the survey is to precisely identify the surface of the local and fine-scale geomorphological features in the region which would help visualise the basic structure of the Deccan basalts and measure neotectonic activity,” said one of the scientists participating in the survey. Speaking on condition of anonymity, the scientist said: “The data collected will be useful to understand the tectonic activities in the region. This will help us learn the relation between the hydrological and seismic movements and their co-relation. It will help us learn the intraplate seismicity.” The project, which has been supported by the Union government’s ministry of earth sciences, assumes significance as Koyna is considered to be one of the major reservoirs in the world that have triggered earthquakes of magnitude 6 and more. The Koyna dam was constructed in 1962 on the Koyna river. The first major earthquake in the region, of magnitude 6.3, was in 1967. Since then, the seismicity in the Koyna region has been recorded by the NGRI. As many as 17 earthquakes of magnitude less than 5 and more than 170 earthquakes of magnitude less than 4 have been recorded. An official copy of the tender, which is with TOI and also available on the institute’s website, explains the scope of the study. According to this document, the scientists will study the area around the two reservoirs as well as their surroundings spread over four districts — Sangli, Ratnagiri, Kolhapur and Satara. Both reservoirs have been constructed across rivers, 33 km apart in the north-aouth direction in the Western Ghats region, running parallel to the Arabian Sea coast. “The region is part of the Deccan volcanic sphere covered by basalt rock. The area has thick vegetation and deciduous trees. Tectonic activities and differential erosion has led to the formation of hills and ridges in the area,” the tender document states.