Lok Sabha Question No. 4165 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2025-03-26
Subject: Seismological Observations
Ministry: EARTH SCIENCES
Asked by: Shri Ravindra Dattaram Waikar, Shri Rajesh Verma, Smt. Shambhavi, Shri Naresh Ganpat Mhaske

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF EARTH SCIENCES LOK SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 4165

TO BE ANSWERED ON WEDNESDAY, 26 TH  MARCH, 2025

## SEISMOLOGICAL OBSERVATIONS

## 4165.   SMT. SHAMBHAVI:

SHRI NARESH GANPAT MHASKE.

SHRI RAJESH VERMA:

SHRI RAVINDRA DATTARAM WAIKAR:

Will the Minister of EARTH SCIENCES be pleased to state:

- (a) the details of the seismological observation which have been set up across the country to monitor earthquake activity since 2020, State-wise and year-wise;
- (b) the details of the earthquake occurrences in the country during the last five years, Statewise and year-wise;
- (c) the  details  of  the  initiatives  implemented  by  the  Government to develop an earthquake early warning system in the country;
- (d) the details of the collaborations with the international agencies to share seismic data and improve forecasting;
- (e) the  steps  taken  by  the  Government  to  enhance  seismic  monitoring  and  improve  data collection on the frequency of earthquakes in the country; and
- (f) whether  the  Government  is considering to expand  India's earthquake forecasting capabilities  with  the  help  of  artificial  intelligence  and  machine  learning  and  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) National Centre for Seismology (NCS), Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES) is monitoring earthquake  activity  in  and  around  the  country  through  its  National  Seismological Network consisting of 166 permanent Seismic Observatories. A total of 49 observatories throughout different states have been set up in the past five years, from 2020 to 2024. Details of seismic observatories (state-wise and year-wise) are given in Annexure-I.
- (b) A total no. of 2768 earthquakes occurred in Indian states/UTfrom Jan 2020 to 22 nd March 2025.  State-wise  and  year-wise  details  of  the  earthquake  are  enclosed  in  Annexure-II. The details of these earthquakes are also available on NCS's website (seismo.gov.in).
- (c) India has undertaken significant initiatives to establish Earthquake Early Warning (EEW) systems,  aiming  to  mitigate  the  impact  of  earthquakes.  NCS  and  Indian  Institute  of Technology Roorkee (IITR) have been at the forefront of these efforts. IIT Roorkee under the project of MoES has been involved in creating an EEW system for Uttarakhand India. A network of 169 MEMS instruments is installed in Uttarakhand Himalaya. They have also developed BhuDev computer app for the same.

Also,  NCS,  MoES,  is  piloting  an  EEW  system  in  the  NW  Himalayas.  This  system  is supposed  to  consider  various  factors,  including  earthquake  magnitude,  depth,  location, and  potential  ground  effects.  These  efforts  are  in  the  initial  stage,  and  the  fidelity, robustness and success rate of such warning systems are still to be assessed thoroughly before the system can be considered for real-time operations.

- (d) NCS is sharing the seismic data of three stations, namely Shillong, Sri Vijya Puram (PortBlair)  and  Minicoy,  with  USGS  in  exchange  for  their  data  for  improved  seismic monitoring of earthquakes occurring within and surrounding region of India. NCS also shares phase data of each earthquake with the International Seismological Centre (ISC) UK  for collaboration in Seismological research throughout the world for the improvements  in  the  earthquake  monitoring.  However,  as  of  now,  no  mechanism  or technology  exists  to  accurately  forecast  earthquakes  in  terms  of  time,  location,  and magnitude.
- (e) The  NCS-MoES  is  continuously  working  to  strengthen  earthquake  monitoring  by establishing,  installing,  and  upgrading seismic stations as part of  its routine operations. Committed to adopting the latest technology, NCS aims to enhance seismic monitoring which  gradually  improves  the  earthquake  detection  capabilities.  To  further  this  effort, NCS  has  proposed  adding  100  more  stations  to  its  network  for  enhancing  seismic monitoring and data collection.
- (f) As on date there is no such mechanism/technology to forecast the earthquake in terms of time, space and magnitude. So, the question doesn't arise.

Annexure -I

## Total Seismic Observatories installed state-wise and after 2020 to 2024 state-wise/year-wise

| States/Year       | Total Seismological observatory   | 2020   | 2021   | 2022   | 2023   | 2024   |
|-------------------|-----------------------------------|--------|--------|--------|--------|--------|
| A&N Island        | 5                                 |        |        |        |        | 2      |
| Andhra Pradesh    | 6                                 |        | 4      |        |        |        |
| Arunachal Pradesh | 8                                 |        | 2      |        | 1      | 1      |
| Assam             | 7                                 |        |        |        |        |        |
| Bihar             | 6                                 |        |        | 1      | 1      |        |
| Chandigarh        | 1                                 |        |        |        |        |        |
| Chhattisgarh      | 4                                 |        | 2      |        |        |        |
| DNH and Daman Diu |                                   |        |        |        |        |        |
| Delhi             | 7                                 |        |        |        |        |        |
| Goa               | 1                                 |        |        |        |        |        |
| Gujarat           | 4                                 |        | 2      |        |        |        |
| Haryana           | 10                                |        | 1      |        |        |        |
| Himachal Pradesh  | 7                                 |        |        |        |        |        |
| Jammu &Kashmir    | 3                                 |        | 1      |        |        |        |
| Jharkhand         | 3                                 |        |        |        |        |        |
| Karnataka         | 7                                 |        | 6      |        |        |        |
| Kerala            | 3                                 |        | 2      |        |        |        |
| Ladakh            | 2                                 |        |        |        |        |        |
| Lakshadweep       | 1                                 |        |        |        |        |        |
| Madhya Pradesh    | 7                                 |        | 4      |        |        |        |
| Maharashtra       | 15                                |        | 5      | 1      |        |        |
| Manipur           | 1                                 |        |        |        |        |        |
| Meghalaya         | 2                                 |        |        |        |        |        |
| Mizoram           | 3                                 |        | 1      |        |        |        |
| Nagaland          | 2                                 |        |        |        |        |        |
| Odisha            | 3                                 |        |        |        |        |        |
| Puducherry        |                                   |        |        |        |        |        |
| Punjab            | 2                                 |        | 1      |        |        |        |
| Rajasthan         | 9                                 |        | 4      |        |        |        |
| Sikkim            | 1                                 |        |        |        |        |        |
| Tamil Nadu        | 7                                 |        |        |        |        | 4      |
| Telangana         | 1                                 |        |        |        |        |        |
| Tripura           | 2                                 |        |        |        |        |        |
| Uttar Pradesh     | 15                                |        |        |        |        |        |
| Uttarakhand       | 8                                 |        | 3      |        |        |        |
| West Bengal       | 3                                 |        |        |        |        |        |
| Total             | 166                               | 0      | 38     | 2      | 2      | 7      |

Annexure -II State-wise and Year-wise earthquakes during 2020 to 22 nd March, 2025

| States/Year       | 2020   | 2021   | 2022   | 2023   | 2024   | 22 nd March, 2025   |
|-------------------|--------|--------|--------|--------|--------|---------------------|
| A &NIslands       | 3      | 4      | 2      | 1      |        |                     |
| Andhra Pradesh    |        | 3      | 2      | 5      | 4      |                     |
| Arunachal Pradesh | 33     | 33     | 19     | 32     | 34     | 5                   |
| Assam             | 52     | 113    | 24     | 61     | 77     | 10                  |
| Bihar             |        |        | 3      | 2      |        |                     |
| Chandigarh        |        | 1      |        |        |        | 1                   |
| Chhattisgarh      | 2      | 3      | 5      | 4      | 8      |                     |
| DNH &Daman Diu    | 2      |        |        |        |        |                     |
| Delhi             | 5      | 8      | 3      | 4      | 6      | 2                   |
| Goa               |        |        |        |        |        |                     |
| Gujarat           | 10     | 8      | 14     | 10     | 15     | 1                   |
| Haryana           | 35     | 16     | 10     | 25     | 22     | 3                   |
| Himachal Pradesh  | 80     | 65     | 54     | 44     | 37     | 5                   |
| Jammu &Kashmir    | 50     | 17     | 35     | 52     | 44     | 2                   |
| Jharkhand         | 1      |        |        | 1      | 3      |                     |
| Karnataka         | 2      | 25     | 33     | 24     | 12     | 1                   |
| Kerala            | 1      | 2      | 2      |        | 2      |                     |
| Ladakh            | 34     | 34     | 34     | 29     | 41     | 13                  |
| Lakshadweep       |        |        |        |        |        |                     |
| Madhya Pradesh    | 10     | 12     | 8      | 18     | 15     | 1                   |
| Maharashtra       | 91     | 39     | 37     | 43     | 38     | 1                   |
| Manipur           | 43     | 40     | 26     | 52     | 44     | 15                  |
| Meghalaya         | 24     | 16     | 15     | 41     | 43     | 7                   |
| Mizoram           | 22     | 7      | 7      | 8      | 3      | 1                   |
| Nagaland          | 18     | 3      |        | 7      | 10     |                     |
| Odisha            | 3      |        | 4      | 1      | 5      |                     |
| Puducherry        |        | 2      |        |        |        |                     |
| Punjab            | 3      | 3      | 2      | 3      | 3      |                     |
| Rajasthan         | 11     | 7      | 11     | 11     | 12     | 3                   |
| Sikkim            | 7      | 10     | 3      | 3      | 9      | 1                   |
| Tamil Nadu        |        | 3      | 5      | 1      | 2      |                     |
| Telangana         | 1      | 4      |        | 12     | 8      |                     |
| Tripura           |        |        |        | 2      | 3      |                     |
| Uttar Pradesh     | 6      | 28     | 4      | 8      | 11     | 12                  |
| Uttarakhand       | 23     | 11     | 40     | 92     | 55     | 1                   |
| West Bengal       | 4      | 4      | 3      | 9      | 9      | 1                   |
| Total             | 576    | 521    | 405    | 605    | 575    | 86                  |