What do earthquakes of small magnitude in Delhi-NCR indicate?
Delhi-NCR has been witnessing several earthquakes of small magnitude. It is the second-highest seismic hazard zone or Zone IV. Meanwhile, the Wadia Institute of Himalayan Geology said on Friday stated that the small magnitude earthquakes do not indicate that a bigger temblor is coming.
Likewise, a Dehradun-based autonomous research institute under the Union science and technology ministry stated that the vulnerability of a region can be studied from the calculation of strain, mapping of active faults, and past seismicity.
The institute also stated that a vulnerable zone sometimes remains quiet, experiences earthquakes of small magnitude that does not indicate any bigger earthquake, or sometimes can witness a sudden jolt by a big earthquake without any call.
As per the report, at least 14 earthquakes were reported in around two months, from March 24 to June 3. According to the data from the National Center for Seismology, an earthquake of magnitude 3 was recorded near Gautam Budh Nagar on Wednesday night.
The Wadia Institute said in a statement that the recent events cannot be defined as the ‘foreshocks’. However, a region witnessed a big earthquake then all the smaller events that occurred in the immediate past would be categorised as the foreshocks.
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Reportedly, the earthquakes recorded in the Delhi-NCR are due to the release of energy. It was accumulated as a result of northward movement of the Indian plate and its collision with the Eurasian plate, through the fault or weak zones.
-PTC News
