Lok Sabha Question No. 2340 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2022-12-21
Subject: Areas Prone to Earthquakes
Ministry: EARTH SCIENCES
Asked by: S. Gnanathiraviam

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

## MINISTRY OF EARTH SCIENCES LOKSABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.  2340 TO BE ANSWERED ON WEDNESDAY, 21 st  DECEMBER, 2022

## AREAS PRONE TO EARTHQUAKES

## 2340. SHRI GNANATHIRAVIAM S.:

Will the Minister of EARTH SCIENCES be pleased to state:

- (a) whether it is a fact that the coastal areas of the country is prone to earthquakes, if so, the details thereof;
- (b) whether the previous records proves this fact, if so, the details in this regard;
- (c) whether the Government is considering to set up a research centre in one of the coastal locations for the same; and
- (d) if so, the details thereof?

## ANSWER

## THE MINISTER OF STATE (INDEPENDENT CHARGE) FOR MINISTRY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY AND EARTH SCIENCES (DR. JITENDRA SINGH)

- (a) Yes Sir, the coastal areas of India are prone to earthquakes of varying degrees of intensities. The coastal areas of India are also vulnerable to the effects of tsunamis that are likely to be triggered by large magnitude under-sea earthquakes from the two  potential  earthquake  sources  viz.,  the  Andaman-Nicobar-Sumatra  arc  region and the Makran coast in the north Arabian sea region.
- (b) Based  on  past  records  of  earthquakes  and  various  other  scientific  inputs  from  a number  of  agencies,  Bureau  of  Indian  Standards  [ IS-1893  (Part-1):  2002 ],  has grouped  the  country  into  four  seismic  zones  viz.  Zone-II,  -III,  -IV  and  -V,  of varying  degrees  of  expected  seismic  intensities.  Of  these,  Zone  V  is  the  most seismically prone region, while zone II is the least. As per this seismic zoning, the various coastal areas fall in different seismic zones as per details given below:
- (c) & (d) In the aftermath of the Great Sumatra earthquake of 26 th December, 2004, Ministry of Earth Sciences had already set up a state-of-the-art Early Warning System for Tsunamis  in  the  Indian  Ocean  region  at  the  Indian  National  Centre  for  Ocean Information Services (INCOIS), Hyderabad, to deal with all the  issues related to tsunami disasters. Also,National Centre for Seismology (NCS) under Ministry of Earth  Sciences  is  mandated  to  monitor  earthquakes  occurring  in  and  around  the country.  For  this  purpose,  NCS  maintains  a  National  Seismological  Network (NSN) consisting of 152 observatories spread across the country. The information of earthquakes reported by NCS is disseminated to the concerned central and state disaster  authorities  in  least  possible  time  to  initiate  the  adequate  mitigation measures  through  its  website  and  other  social  media  platforms.  The  detailed information of the earthquakes is also available on the website  of  NCS (seismo.gov.in).Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES) is also supporting a number of R&D related  projects  through  various  research  and  academic  institutions  in  the country,  for  better  understanding  of  earthquake  and  tsunami  generation  related processes, towards better preparedness and planning measures in future.

| Coastal Areas                                               | Seismic zones   |
|-------------------------------------------------------------|-----------------|
| Entire coastal areas of Andaman and Nicobar Islands         | V               |
| Coastal areas of Gujarat                                    | V, IV &III      |
| Entire coastal areas of Daman &Diu                          | III             |
| Coastal areas of Maharashtra                                | IV &III         |
| Entire coastal areas of Goa, Karnataka, Kerala &Lakshadweep | III             |

| Coastal areas of Tamil Nadu         | III &II   |
|-------------------------------------|-----------|
| Entire coastal areas of Pondicherry | II        |
| Coastal areas of Andhra Pradesh     | III &II   |
| Coastal areas of Odisha             | III &II   |
| Coastal areas West Bengal           | IV &III   |

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