Seismic station network to be set up in Jammu and Kashmir

Earthquake, along with war and pestilence ranks among the world’s worst killers. And this is mainly attributed to its unique feature of striking without warning. Studies and research estimate that more than 200,000 earthquakes are recorded each year globally. Out of these, micro earthquakes –less than 2 magnitude on Richter scale – are more in numbers and go unnoticed, while the ones with larger intensity are very few.

In last one month, the world has already observed eighteen earthquakes, with two being witnessed on Monday, March 23. At around 4.51 GMT, a quake measuring 6.3 on the Richter scale had jolted Chile but no casualties were reported. On the same day a mild intensity earthquake, measuring 3.0 on the Richter scale had hit the city of Meerut in Uttar Pradesh. But due to its mild intensity the quake went unnoticed.

Though pinpointing the exact time and size of an earthquake is currently impossible, scientists can estimate the probability of an earthquake occurring in a region over a span of decades. This is exactly what the Union Earth Sciences Ministry is doing by trying to establish a network of seismic stations in Jammu and Kashmir. By doing this scientists will be able to assess areas more prone to severe earthquakes.

Kashmir has not seen a very severe quake (of more than 8 magnitude on the Richter scale) in the past 400 years. However, this is being done keeping in view that great earthquakes had shaken the rest of the Himalayan belt as in Bihar-Nepal in 1934 and in Assam in 1950. Also the Kashmir part behaves differently from the rest of the Himalayan region in terms of small and moderate earthquakes.