Start Searching the Answers
The Internet has many places to ask questions about anything imaginable and find past answers on almost everything.
The Question & Answer (Q&A) Knowledge Managenet
The Internet has many places to ask questions about anything imaginable and find past answers on almost everything.
Delhi is close to the Himalayas, which was formed by mixing of tectonic plates such as India and Eurasia. Due to the movement in these plates, areas like Delhi-NCR, Kanpur and Lucknow are the most prone to earthquakes.
Delhi is located in zone IV which has fairly high seismicity where the general occurrence of earthquakes is of 5-6 magnitude, a few of magnitude 6-7 and occasionally of 7-8 magnitude. Delhi thus lies among the high-risk areas.
Natural disasters in India As per India’s National Policy on Disaster Management [3], the natural disasters that India is prone to are earthquakes, floods, droughts, cyclones, tsunamis, landslips and avalanches.
Floods in India Floods are the most common natural disaster in India. The heavy southwest monsoon rains cause the Brahmaputra and other rivers to distend their banks, often flooding surrounding areas.
The epicentre of the earthquake was 8 km northwest (NW) of New Delhi, the agency said. “Mild tremors were confirmed around 6.42 am (today). The earthquake of magnitude 4.2 occurred at 11.46 pm at a depth of five kilometres, it said.
Low-intensity earthquake hits Delhi, second in two days The earthquake, with its epicentre near Wazirpur in northeast Delhi, occurred at 1.26 pm at a shallow depth of 5 km, said JL Gautam, Head (Operations) at NCS, an institute under the Ministry of Earth Sciences.
(a) India is one of the ten most disaster prone countries of the world. The desert part of the country is affected by droughts and famine while the coastal zone susceptible to cyclones and storms. (b) The natural geological setting of the country is the primary basic reason for its increased vulnerability.
Stay Safe During an Earthquake
District East of the National Capital Territory of Delhi is part of the Yamuna River Edge, ipso facto, it is more prone to flood and Earthquake than the other districts.
There’s a movement along the fault lines which releases huge amounts of energy thereby causing earthquakes. Speaking of Delhi, the region is vulnerable to earthquakes in particular mainly because of its location.
A working paper prepared by the NDMA said India is vulnerable to more than 30 different types of disasters. In 2015 and 2016, more than 1,100 people were reported killed in disasters and over 350 million affected across the country.
Drought-hit district of Yavatmal in Maharashtra. (TNN file photo) NEW DELHI: A national disaster risk index mapping hazards and vulnerabilities across 640 districts puts Maharashtra at the top of the chart followed by West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh, while Delhi is most at risk among Union territories (UTs).