As National Geophysical Research Institute Issues Alert
PHOTO: NGRI’s Chief Scientist Dr. N Purnachandra Rao
By Kaipee Luther Newray, newraykaipee@gmail.com
Dehradun, India-An Indian state with a large number of international students from Liberia and several other African countries, has been put on an emergency earthquake alert.
The National Geophysical Research Institute (NGRI) in India said on Tuesday that the Himalayan region of the country can be rocked by a massive earthquake soon, which could have a major impact on Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand.
The African students, who come from Liberia, Lesotho, South Sudan, Tanzania, Guinea, Gambia, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Uganda, Sierra Leone and South Africa are now bracing themselves for the expected earthquake.
NGRI’s Chief Scientist Dr. N Purnachandra Rao told the media that Earth’s surface comprises various plates that are constantly in motion and the Indian plate is moving about 5 cm per year, which is causing a lot of stress in the Himalayan region.
“We’ve a strong network of 18 seismograph stations in Uttarakhand and the region referred to as the seismic gap between Himachal & the western part of Nepal and Uttarakhand is prone to earthquakes that might occur at any time,” he predicted.
According to NGRI, the entire Himalayan region is a known unstable and the entire India plate is colliding.
Dr. N Purnachandra Rao indicated that “Uttarakhand and western Nepal lie in the region which has not experienced a great earthquake in the past and that makes us to believe that all these stress that is getting along this segment of Himalaya has to get released at some point of time.”
Since the other segments of Himalayan region have already experienced some of the great earthquakes, so there is the possibility of the next earthquake is in this region, said the Chief Scientist of the National Geophysical Research Institute.
The Himalayas, or Himalaya, is a mountain range separating the plains of the Indian subcontinent from the Tibetan Plateau. The range has some of the planet’s highest peaks, including the very highest, Mount Everest, which lies on the border of China and Nepal.
NGRI’s Chief Scientist could not clearly predict the actual date or time of the earthquake.
Experts believe that an earthquake of a similar magnitude which occurred in Turkey can hit India and result in loss of property if proper precautionary measures are not taken.
Meanwhile, international students in Dehradun have expressed fear about the shocking prediction of earthquake in the area.