In a written reply, the government informed Lok Sabha during the ongoing Lok Sabha that various organisations of Government of India are involved in seismic zonation mapping and regular monitoring for identification of high seismic risk zone prone areas across the Country in order to mitigate their effect.
The National Centre for Seismology under the Ministry of Earth Sciences monitors the earthquake activity in and around the Country on 24×7 basis with special emphasis to the Himalayan regions having “high seismic potential”
Over 40 earthquakes of varying intensity hit J&K and Ladakh this year and their magnitudes ranged from 3.2 to 5.4 on the Richter scale, according to the National Centre of Seismology. The experts have said that recurring earthquakes were beneficial as they help release the extra pressure that accumulates on the tectonic plates, yet there is need to be vigilant and ensure measures which would help prevent colossal losses, both in terms of life and property.
India has been divided into four zones viz. zone V, IV, III and II according to the seismic zoning map of India prepared by Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) based on historical seismicity and strong ground motions.
Out of these zones, Zone V exhibits the highest seismic risk and zone II has the least.
All districts of Kashmir valley and Doda district fall in Seismic Zone-V, and the rest of the districts fall in Seismic Zone-IV.
As per Wadia Institute of Himalayan Geology under the Department of Science and Technology has about 70 broadband seismograph stations operational in the Northwest and Northeast Himalaya for monitoring earthquake activities, evaluation of seismic hazards, and earthquake precursory studies. Since, an earthquake can trigger landslides, landslide susceptibility and vulnerability maps by incorporating tectonic activity based on machine learning algorithms have also been prepared, the government said.
The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has carried out landslide susceptibility zonation mapping along with Northwest and Northeast Himalaya. ISRO has also established a network of 30 Global Navigation Satellite System based Continuously Operating Reference Stations across Himalayan belt to monitor the process of crustal deformation. In addition, the Geological Survey of India (GSI) has carried out research and development studies with field validation across the landslide prone areas of the Country. GSI has also installed permanent Global Positioning System (GPS) stations in different parts of the Country with an aim to monitor plate movement and also map areas with strain in homogeneity. While these efforts are welcome, there should be systematic resort to awareness programs to educate the public on what to do during an earthquake because preparedness is the key to managing such disasters.
