BackUttarakhand feels 3 tremors in 12 hours: Are they warning signs of 'greater earthquake'?
Three earthquake tremors were felt within 12 hours on the intervening night of Sunday and Monday in Uttarkashi, UttarakhandWith this the hilly state faced 12 earthquake tremors in the last two months.
PremiumThe hilly state Uttarakhand has been at the edge of matters, since after the huge Joshimath cracks that forced an entire town to displace to save themselves. In the latest of the attacks, three earthquake tremors were felt within 12 hours on the intervening night of Sunday and Monday in Uttarkashi, Uttarakhand, said Disaster Management Secretary Ranjit Sinha.
Uttarakhand that is situated on the Himalayas, run the risk of facing frequent earthquakes because the Himalayas are a young-fold mountains that is still rising.
Three back-to-back earthquakes in Uttarakhand
The epicenter of the earthquake has been described as the northern region of Uttarkashi. The area of Uttarkashi falls in India's seismic zone 'V Zone' (maximum risk).
In the state, the first tremor was felt at 12.45 AM in the Siror forest of Bhatwari block. The magnitude of the earthquake was 2.5 on the Ritcher Scale. The third tremor was felt at around 10.10 am. The intensity was measured at 1.8 on the Ritcher scale.
With this, 12 earthquake tremors have been felt in Uttarakhand in the last two months.
Uttarakhand- seismic zone 'V Zone'
In February, scientists at Hyderabad-based CSIR-National Geophysical Research Institute had warned that Uttarakhand runs the risk of facing ‘massive earthquake'. This warning was sounded including the Joshimath area.
“Uttarakhand falls in a seismic gap where a great earthquake is waiting to occur," Dr Purnachandra Rao, chief scientist, Seismology, NGRI had told Deccan Herald.
The scientist further informed the news daily that the pressure built up underneath the Himalayas due to the tectonic movement will be released. However they could not place a date on the event.
Another Hyderabad-based research institute, ISRO-National Remote Sensing Centre, had last month sounded alarm bells for the central and Uttarakhand state officials to act quickly on Joshimath's subsidence. NRSC detected a rapid subsidence of 5.4 cm, recorded in a span of just 12 days and confined to the central part of the Himalayan town.
What is a great earthquake?
An earthquake is described as a great earthquake when it measures 8 or above in the Richter Scale.
The last time India saw a great earthquake was in 1905 in Himachal Pradesh and in the Bihar-Nepal border in 1934.
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