Monday’s earthquake measuring 4.9 on the Richter scale with Bahadurgarh in Haryana as its epicentre is the third tremor India has experienced in the last five days.
It is also the 19th tremor the country has experienced in the last two months. In January alone, ten quakes were recorded across the nation.
Dr R.S. Dattatrayam, a scientist in the seismic department of the Indian Meteorological Department pointed out that India witnessed 80 earthquakes in 2011, measuring between 3.5 to 6.5 on the Richter scale.
A large number of these quakes occurred in the northern regions of J&K, Haryana, Punjab and the NCR region.
When asked if there had been an intensification of quakes in India due to the increasing densification of our cities and because of increasing amounts of ground water depletion, Dr Dattatrayam replied, “We cannot draw such an inference based on data of a few months.”
“India has always experienced a great deal of seismic activities,” he added.
He warned that Delhi will continue to experience these quakes and tremors as it falls on the juncture of falls and ridges.
According to the seismic zone mapping done by the Geological Survey of India, Delhi is among 30 cities in the country falling in zone 4 which is defined as a severe intensity seismic zone.
Prof. Harsh Gupta of the National Disaster Management Authority said, “In the last 60 years, the Himalayan region has not witnessed a major earthquake whereas between 1897-1950, it witnessed four major earthquakes. Experts do warn that a major earthquake can occur but no one is willing to say when and how it will occur.”