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Tremors from the moderate earthquake that occurred in western Nepal near Chhapari along the Nepal-India border on Monday evening, were felt in western Nepal and Northern India.
Quakes with a magnitude between 5.0 and 5.9 on the Richter scale fall under the ‘moderate' category.
DAMAGE REPORTED
Monday's quake had a magnitude of 5.7 on the Richter scale, and caused some damage in western Nepal and Northern India, according to Pune-based Amateur Seismic Centre >(www.asc-india.org ).
Monday's quake is one the largest earthquakes in this region since 2002 and was centred 52.9 km east of Pithoragarh (Uttarakhand); 107 km east of Almora (Uttarakhand); 316 km north-northwest of Lucknow (Uttar Pradesh); and 363 km east-northeast of Connaught Place in Delhi.
In Uttar Pradesh, a few buildings developed cracks at Bhajani and Rajapur. Strong tremors were felt at Bahedi, Bahraich, Bareilly, Bijnor, Meerut, Moradabad, Muzaffarnagar, Nagina, Raipur, Rajapur, Sethal, Siswadi and Tikunia.
The Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited has said that the nuclear power plant at Narora in the State was unaffected and was functioning normally.
DELHI TREMORS
In Delhi, the earthquake was felt indoors by several people, especially those on the upper floors of buildings.
In Haryana, mild tremors were felt at Karnal as well as in multi-storied buildings in Faridabad and Gurgaon.
The entire Himalayan region is considered vulnerable to high-intensity quakes of a magnitude exceeding 8.0 on the Richter scale, according to researchers.
In a relatively short span of about 50 years, four such earthquakes have occurred: Shillong, 1897 (M8.7); Kangra, 1905 (M8.0); Bihar-Nepal, 1934 (M8.3); and Assam–Tibet, 1950 (M 8.6).
Scientific publications have warned that very severe earthquakes are likely to occur anytime in the region, which could adversely affect the lives of several million people in India.
NON-COMPLIANCE
The damage from earthquake hazard depends on numerous factors. This mainly includes subsurface geology and adherence to the building codes/safe construction practices.
In India, the situation alarming as large percentage of the housing stock in suburban and rural areas, are non-engineered and built without adhering to quake-resistant construction principles both in design and construction of buildings.
Rural and semi-urban areas account for most of the total building stock in India. There are approximately 12 crore buildings in seismic Zones III, IV and V.
The construction of these structures is presently unregulated and is adding to the numbers of vulnerable structures. Most of these buildings are not earthquake-resistant and are potentially vulnerable to collapse in the event of a high intensity earthquake.
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