Massive Killer 'Mega Earthquakes'
Expected In 2016
Massive earthquakes with a magnitude of 8.2 or greater on
the Richter scale could tear through the Himalayas - affecting millions. The
region is already reeling from a powerful quake on Monday. Recent earthquakes
in the region - Manipur 6.7 (Jan 2016), Nepal 7.3 (May 2015) and Sikkim 6.9
(2011) - have re-ruptured the plates that had already developed cracks during
previous seismic activity. This has led to conditions which might trigger
multiple powerful earthquakes.
National Institute of Disaster Management (NIDM) has warned
of enhanced risk around the "ring of fire garlanding the entire of
northern India, especially the mountains". Speaking to the Times of India,
National Institute of Disaster Management director Santosh Kumar predicted a
disaster of bigger magnitude, saying there is a "ring of fire garlanding
the entire north India especially the mountains".
Roger Bilham, the seismologist of the University of
Colorado, said: "The current conditions might trigger at least four
earthquakes greater than 8.0 in magnitude. "And if they delay, the strain
accumulated during the centuries provokes more catastrophic mega
earthquakes."
A powerful earthquake struck northeast India and Bangladesh
on Monday, killing at least 11 people and injuring nearly 200, with efforts to
reach remote areas where people may be trapped hampered by severed power lines
and telecommunication links. The U.S. Geological Survey said the 6.8 magnitude
quake was 35 miles deep and struck 18 miles west of Imphal, capital of India's
Manipur state, which borders Myanmar.
The pre-dawn quake killed six people in India and five in
neighbouring Bangladesh, officials said, while shockwaves were felt in the
Himalayan nation of Nepal and as far away as the Myanmar city of Yangon, about
730 miles to the south.
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