String of tremors in NCR unlikely to be precursor to larger quake: Expert

Kalachand Sain, the Director of Wadia Institute of Himalayan Geology, said that the string of low to medium intensity quakes the national capital region has witnessed in the recent past is unlikely to be a precursor to a larger quake as the stress accumulated would have been dissipated.

Dehradun (Uttarakhand): With fears arisen due to a string of earthquakes in the national capital in the past one-and-a-half months, an expert said that these incidents are unlikely to lead to a much bigger quake.

Kalachand Sain, the Director of Wadia Institute of Himalayan Geology, said that the mechanism of the earthquakes in the Himalayan region and the NCR region are in stark contrast with each other.

Though Delhi is categorised under the seismic zone IV which is considered severe, the faults in the national capital region are classified as plate interiors. The Himalayan region, meanwhile, is categorised under the plate exterior region as it is where the Indian and Eurasian plates collide.

"At the plate boundaries, if there are continuous quakes, we can predict that an earthquake of a much larger magnitude is on the way," Sain said.

"However, in the case of plate interior regions like Delhi, when such low to medium quakes occur, the accumulated stress is dissipated," Sain said, explaining that the probability of the string of quakes in Delhi being a precursor to a bigger even is quite low.

Sain however said extra precaution must be taken in Delhi, as it has tall-rising buildings and an extremely large population. Hence, an earthquake of even a slightly higher magnitude may cause devastation.

Over the past one-and-a-half months, the national capital has seen around 10 low to medium intensity quakes - all below 5 on the Richter scale.

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