Developing an Earthquake Resilient Society in the Vicinity of Himalaya

Abstract

Among the seismically active continental regions, the Himalayan region is very significant with large human population in the immediate vicinity. The Himalayan region experienced four great earthquakes of M ~8 within a short span of 55 years from 1897 to 1952. The region has not experienced an earthquake of similar magnitude since 1952. Developing an earthquake resilient society through the process of developing earthquake scenarios, as to what would be the impact if one of the past earthquakes repeats today, is an extremely useful approach. And sharing this information with all concerned, doing the needful to educate and enrich the concerned government departments, and making the public a share-holder, helps. The 1905 Kangra earthquake of M ~ 8 had claimed ~ 20,000 human lives in addition to causing widespread damage. A scenario was built by the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), Government of India, as to what would be the consequences if such an earthquake occurred today? It was discovered that ~ 0.9 million human lives would be lost in the states of Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and the Union Territory of Chandigarh if this earthquake occurred in the middle of the night. A year-long phase of training and educating at various levels to develop an earthquake resilient society in the states of Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and the Union Territory of Chandigarh during 2012-2013 culminated in a mega mock drill on the 13 February 2013. It demonstrated what all had been achieved and what was missing. Encouraged by the success a similar exercise was carried out for the repeat of the 1897 Shillong earthquake for 8 northeast Indian states during 2013-2014 culminating in mega mock drills on 10 and 13 March 2014. In this communication a brief of these exercises is provided.