Page 56 - 15MAY2019E

Mega earthquake may

catch India unprepared

he Indian subcontinent has The country has not learnt from past mistakes and is far from
a history of earthquakes. being prepared for such an eventuality with no strategy to minimise
The reason for the inten-
sity and high frequency of loss of life and property, reports teHelka buReau
T earthquakes is the Indian
plate driving into Asia at a rate of ap- developing earthquake early warning structures and tell you the mechanism
proximately 47 mm/year. The latest one systems which could give people up to by which they can be made resistant,”
before this edition went to bed was the a minute of warning before the quake. said Mitra, one of the speakers at the
strong 6.1-magnitude earthquake that However, such short term predictions workshop.
struck the country’s northeastern state are not best way forward, said Dr Supri- Implementing these would reduce
of Arunachal Pradesh early on April 24. yo Mitra from Indian Institute of Science the risk to human lives and property in
The epicenter of the shallow quake was Education and Research (IISER), Kolkata. the event of a disaster. “Science can tell
about 40 kilometres southeast of Along, “I would prefer being a society that is pre- you where an earthquake may strike, and
and 180 kilometres southwest of the state pared,” Mitra was quoted as saying. with what magnitude, but ‘when’ is a bad
capital Itanagar. Even if seismologists are able to pro- question to ask,” Mitra said, adding that
Such quakes are minor. But a mega vide an early warning to enable people earthquake predictions shift the onus of
earthquake of magnitude 8.5 or more is to safely vacate their buildings before responsibility of disaster preparedness
long overdue in the Himalayan region. an earthquake, our homes would still be completely to scientists.
Sadly, India has not learnt from past mis- destroyed, turning a whole society into
takes and is far from being prepared for refugees, he said. “We have the expertise Heavy damage awaits Delhi-NCR
such an eventuality with no strategy to to know what the hazards are. Engineers If a large magnitude earthquake occurs
minimise loss of life and property. The can work out the vulnerability of the in the near future in the northwest (NW)
government must ensure seismic safety,
scientists from all over the country who
gathered here last week for a global
workshop said.
The April 18-20 International Work-
shop on Climate Change and Extreme
Events in Himalayan Region, hosted by
the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT)
Mandi, was aimed at understanding
the effects of climate change, melting of
glaciers, increased frequency of extreme
events, atmospheric pollution, pollution
due to crop residue burning in Himala-
yan region and applications of remote
sensing. Scientists from various fields
of expertise concurred that an earth-
quake of the magnitude of 8.5 or more is
expected to rock the Himalayan region.
One of the many topics discussed at
the event was that the Himalayan region
was not prepared to reduce loss of lives
and properties when the ‘big one’ arrives.
Numerous research groups, including
one at IIT Roorkee, are in the process of • Huge quake on way An earthquake of the magnitude of 8.5 or more may rock the Himalayan region

Tehelka / 15 may 2019 56 www.Tehelka.com