Guwahati, Srinagar at highest earthquake risk

Guwahati, April 28 ,2015: Guwahati and Srinagar are the two Indian cities at highest risk of being devastated by an earthquake, with 36 other cities in areas prone to earthquakes, according to government data. Guwahati and Srinagar fall in what is called “very severe intensity zone”, or zone V, the highest-risk earthquake zone. Eight cities, including Delhi, fall in the “severe intensity zone” or zone IV, according to a seismic zoning map issued by the Bureau of Indian Standards and quoted in a National Disaster Management (NDM) report. The other 30 cities fall in the “moderate intensity zone”, or zone III. “India has highly populous cities, including the national capital of New Delhi, located in zones of high seismic risk,” said the report. “Typically, the majority of the constructions in these cities are not earthquake resistant. Thus any earthquake striking in one of these cities would turn into a major disaster.” A reminder of India’s vulnerability The Nepal earthquake, which has claimed more than 4,000 lives, and the NDM data are a reminder of India’s vulnerability. IndiaSpend recently reported that nearly 60 percent of the sub-continental landmass is vulnerable to earthquakes. About 50 million years ago, India — then an island that had previously broken off from a supercontinent called Gondwana, a name still used for what is now Chhattisgarh — slammed into the Eurasian mainland, creating the Himalayas as it collided. All land on earth rides on “plates”, which glide on the mantle, a rocky inner layer. The Indian plate continues to grind into the Eurasian plate, and as it does, the Himalayas and north India are on shaky ground.