BREAKING SEISMIC NEWSFeb 20, 2006
Is a new bomb ticking in the northeastern part of the Himalayas?
Tuesday’s earthquake, which struck the Himalayas in Sikkim and was felt in the entire northeastern belt, is a grim reminder to the country’s planners and policy-makers on the continuance of massive hydroelectric projects in the region.
Sikkim and Darjeeling Himalayas are part of the northeast belt, the seismic vulnerability of which cannot be understated, especially in the wake of the current isostatic adjustment of tectonic plates triggered by the December 26 quake.
Falling under seismic zone IV on a scale of I to V, the region’s propensity to seismic convulsions has always kept seismographers and geomorphologists worried. Tuesday’s moderate quake, which recorded 5.3 on the Richter scale, has fuelled their apprehensions.
The 12-second tremor, according to seismologists, had its epicentre 20.1 km below the earth’s surface at a place in Sikkim and 72.8 km north of Siliguri. As the ground shook, hundreds of residents rushed out of their homes. Two army jawans caught in a landslide triggered by the tremor were killed close to the Na Thula border.
“We cannot think of the extent of casualties in the thickly populated regions of Gangtok and neighbouring Darjeeling, had the quake been a little stronger and lasted a couple of moments more,” said a seismic expert on Thursday.
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