NCS Director says 'no reason to panic', clarifies minor earthquakes in Delhi not 'unusual'

National Centre for Seismology (NCS) Director Dr. BK Bansal has assured that there is no need to panic with respect to the recent seismic activities in the Delhi-NCR region. The remarks come at the back of a series of tremors and mild earthquakes in the region, sparking fears of a major earthquake. 

READ: Earthquake Of 4.6 Magnitude On Richter Scale Hits Haryana's Rohtak; Tremors Felt In Delhi

'No reason to panic'

During a meeting on Wednesday, National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) requested the states to ensure compliance of building bye-laws to make upcoming constructions earthquake resilient and to avoid addition of vulnerable building stock, identify the vulnerable priority structures, especially lifeline buildings, and retrofit them.

Private buildings should also be retrofitted to reduce the risk in a phased manner, wherever required, conduct regular mock exercises to deal with earthquakes in future and come out with SoPs for immediate response after an earthquake, and undertake the public awareness programmes regarding do’s and don’ts with regard to earthquakes, NDMA directed to the states. 

READ: Mild Tremors In Uttarakhand's Chamoli

Earlier this week, the Delhi High Court asked the AAP government and civic authorities on Tuesday to detail their preparedness measures in case a major tremor hits the city. A bench of Justices Vipin Sanghi and Rajnish Bhatnagar asked the Delhi government, the three municipal corporations, cantonment board, DDA and New Delhi Municipal Council to file affidavits explaining steps taken or proposed to be taken to ensure the safety of people in the event of a major earthquake.

The application was moved by advocates Arpit Bhargava and DK Sharma claiming that the authorities and Delhi government have not done anything despite several directions by the court to develop an action plan. In the application, Bhargava contended that around 11 earthquakes have struck Delhi since April 12. 

During the meeting, the NCS Director informed that given the seismic history of Delhi and its vicinity, the occurrence of minor earthquakes in Delhi-NCR is not unusual. However, he added that there is no proven technology in the world wherein earthquakes are predicted with certainty in terms of its location, time and magnitude.

READ: Medium Intensity Earthquake Hits Noida

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