Three weeks ago, residents of Gonde, which is nearly 60 km from Nashik in the tribal Peth region, noticed deep cracks along the bank of the Damanganga river. The 6-18 inch wide fissures had formed overnight and had split trees and rocks, the villagers claimed. The level of the river had also dropped by six feet and three fresh steams had emerged in the river bed. The villagers fear the phenomena are symptoms of an earthquake of Latur proportions.