Over eight lakh people may die if an earthquake measuring 8 on the Richter scale occurs in the seismically-active Himalayan states from Jammu and Kashmir to Arunachal Pradesh, National Disaster Management Authority's Vice Chairman M Shashidhar Reddy has warned.
The entire Himalayan belt is seismically very active and during a short span of 53 years between 1897 and 1950, four major earthquakes, (Shillong -1897, Kangra -1905, Bihar-Nepal -1934 and Assam -1950) exceeding magnitude 8 on the Richter scale occurred in the region causing vast devastation.
"No such earthquake has occurred since 1950. Studies indicate that enough strains have accumulated to generate magnitude 8 or larger earthquakes in the Himalayan region. If an earthquake of magnitude 8 occurs in the Himalayan states, eight to nine lakh people may lose their lives," the NDMA vice-chief told PTI.
Reddy said when and where such an earthquake would occur is not known and therefore, the best approach to face such an eventuality was to work for developing an earthquake-resilient society.
Towards this goal, the NDMA has recently undertaken an exercise to develop a scenario of what would happen if a quake of magnitude 8 on the Richter scale occurs at a certain location, he said.
Earlier, an exercise was undertaken for such a quake occurring some 200 km away from Delhi, for the National Capital Region. Subsequently, NDMA undertook a more detailed 'Multi-State Earthquake Scenario' project for a hypothetical magnitude 8 earthquake occurring in Mandi in Himachal Pradesh.
"If an earthquake of magnitude 8 or more occurs in a place like Mandi, at least 20,000 people may die in a city like Chandigarh, the nearest biggest urban settlement," Reddy said.
