Chikkamagaluru, August 30: Earthquake did not take place at Kogre and in its nearby villages. Senior geologists have opined that the strange sound was heard due to heavy rains in the recent past. In this regard, geologists have submitted a report to the district administration and the government.

The villagers had complained that they experienced strange sounds accompanied by minor vibrations beneath the earth for several months in Kogre, Shantigrama, Abbikal, Nayakarakatte and Guddbargodu villages in Koppa taluk. Consequently, a team of senior geologists from Bengaluru led by Dr. Ramesh L. Dikpal, KK Abhinav and Raghavan visited the villages on August 14 and launched inspection.

This team has now submitted their report to the government. It mentioned that as per routine, 1,025 mm rainfall was expected in this area. But it received 1,339 mm rain. That means, around 31% addition rainfall has been recorded. Following which, these sorts of sounds may have been heard from the ground, but it is not an earthquake. “All these villages are located on the hills. Here, hills are being cleared to construct roads. Due to which, the landslides are taking place,” they said.

“There is a man-made 50-60 meter long tunnel in the village. Some say that sounds are coming in because the layers of the tunnels clash with each other. But there are no signs of the collision of the layers when we inspected there. The tunnels are not the reason for such sounds, the scientists clarified.

The group of scientists, who believe that the sound came due to heavy rainfall and increased water flow, said that Richter scales had been installed at every district to provide information about the earthquake. As soon as an earthquake or seismic traits are found, data is sent to the respective deputy commissioners. No such details are available in this area. The mysterious sound is not related to the earthquake, the scientists opined.



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Barcelona (AP): Real Madrid slapped players Federico Valverde and Aurélien Tchouaméni with half-a-million-euro ($588,000) fines on Friday for their altercation during practice.

The massive fines came a day after the midfielders tussled when the team trained. Valverde said in a post on social media on Thursday that no punches were thrown. But Valverde knocked his head on a table and he suffered a small cut that required a brief hospital visit.

On social media, Valverde initially called it a “meaningless fight” with a teammate and said “everything has been blown out of proportion."

His employers, however, considered it a significant enough breach of team discipline to nail both Valverde and Tchouaméni with fines that bite even the bank account of a top soccer player. The half-a-million euro penalties reflect the reputational damage the club was enduring in a chaotic end to a disappointing season.

In a statement, the 15-time European champion said its disciplinary action was concluded after both players expressed to the club “their complete remorse for what happened and apologized to one another.”

Madrid added they also apologized to their teammates, the coaching staff and club supporters, as well as showing their willingness to accept whatever disciplinary action the club deemed “opportune.”

Tchouaméni was back training with Madrid on Friday, two days before they play at Barcelona in a clasico. Madrid has to win otherwise Barcelona will be crowned La Liga champion.

After being notified of the fine, he posted a public apology to the club and its fans on social media.

“What happened this week in training is unacceptable,” Tchouaméni wrote. "I say this while thinking about the example we are expected to set for young people, whether in football or at school.

“Above all, I am sorry for the image we projected of the club.”

Valverde was not at practice due to the head knock.

Both players are set to play in the World Cup next month, with Tchouaméni playing for France and Valverde for Uruguay. 

Chaotic end to a poor season

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The run-in between the players, who for seasons have played side by side in Madrid's midfield, came after they argued this week in previous training sessions. But tempers boiled over on Thursday. Spanish media was rife with reports that the players previously disagreed over the club's decision to let coach Xabi Alonso go after just months on the job.

It was not the only altercation involving Madrid players during training this week. Álvaro Carreras confirmed he was in a “minor” incident with a teammate. Spanish media said he and fellow defender Antonio Rüdiger got into a scuffle.

Álvaro Arbeloa, the coach who was promoted from Madrid's reserve team when Alonso was fired in January, will face tough questions on what went wrong inside the changing room when he gives a press conference on Saturday ahead of the clasico at Camp Nou.

Madrid is facing a second consecutive campaign without a major trophy amid rumors in the Spanish media that club president Florentino Pérez is considering bringing back Jose Mourinho to straighten out his underperforming team.