As many as 29 Indian cities and towns across India are found to be highly vulnerable to earthquakes as they come under severe and very severe seismic zones according to a recent report published by National Centre for Seismology
National Centre for Seismology, (NCS) which works under the India Meteorological Department records earthquakes and seismic activities in different parts of the country. In a recent report, NCS has listed Delhi, Srinagar, Kohima, Puducherry, Guwahati, Gangkok, Shimla, Dehradun, Imphal, and Chandigarh among high risk zones for earth quake, as they fall under seismic zone 4 and 5.
Microzonation of earth quake prone zones are carried out and various regions which are at high risk for earth quakes based on previous earth quake records, seismic and tectonic activities of the region are categorized into various risk zones, the report said.
Kumar, Professor of Earth Sciences, Government college of Technology while speaking to SimpliCity said that "The city of Coimbatore is at moderate risk for earth quake as the city is categorized under seismic zone 3".
“Since Puducherry is at a high risk zone for earth quakes as it falls under zone 4, tremor fears has struck the people of Cuddalore, Kanchipuram, Chennai and adjoining areas. Though, Coimbatore does not come under this category but still faces a moderate risk.
The city of Coimbatore and other towns in West Tamilnadu were in zone 2 earlier but now they have progressed into zone 3. Increasing number of stone, sand quarrying and mining activities are the main trigger points for earth quake" he said.
“Man tampers with Mother Nature in the name of development, which disturbs the brittle equilibrium of the Earth and its geomorphological factors, which in turn makes it a high seismic activity zone”, he added.
“While cities situated in zone II could be totally risk free, but those in zone III have a serious possibility of an earth quake" says the Geological Survey of India website.
Speaking to another Researcher, Saravanakumar, an Earth sciences and earthquake expert threw light on the past occurrences of earthquakes in the region “A major earth quake struck the Coimbatore region in 1900 and it was a high intensity earth quake which registered 6.4 in the Richter scale.The epicenter of the earth quake was in Nallepilly in Palghat district, which is only 29 kilometers from the city. The iconic clock tower in the city (Mani koondu) was destroyed in the earthquake and over 47 people have died in the city”.
“The impact and aftershocks of the earthquake was felt over an area of 25,000 square kilometers, from Chennai to Tirunelveli. Interestingly, all the details of this major earth quake in TamilNadu which hit over a century back was etched in a stone inscription at Jaycee church in the city", he said.
While detailing the current risk for any earth quake in the region he said “Presently, tremors continue to happen in Nallepilly. And in the past five years alone tremors measuring 2.8 to 3.1 Richter scale are registered in the area, which might be a forerunner for an imminent earth quake. As Earth quake experts stress that the earth quakes might return to the high risk zones where it has already happened", Saravanakumar added.
“Man tampering with natural resources and exploitation of natural resources due to over population might trigger earth quakes. Indeed, it's high time humans practice to live in harmony with Mother Nature", Saravanakumar said.