坼 is literary, meaning ground or wood splitting open. It is famous from Du Fu's line 吴楚东南坼 'Wu and Chu are riven southeast'. In modern Chinese use 裂 or 开裂.
Right side 斥 is the sound element; the reading shifted from chì to chè. It contributes no 'scold' meaning here — it is the phonetic tag for this splitting word.
