Natures alarm bell in Himalayan region how prepeared are we !!

In Nepal, there is a popular folklore that there is a major earthquake once in 80 years. This has in fact been backed up by science as well, which shows that a major earthquake takes once in 80 years. After the 1934 earthquake, which resulted in massive destruction, there have been smaller earthquakes that Nepal has witnessed.

The talk about a major earthquake became louder in the year 2011 in which 11 persons had died in Nepal alone. This was an earthquake of a magnitude of 6.9 and when everyone felt that the 80 year syndrome had occurred, many elders believed that this was not the one which was due.

Is there is a science behind it?

 According to science, the earthquake of 1934 was caused by movements within the tectonic plates. The tectonic plates was the reason for giving rise to the Himalayas, the worlds tallest mountain range. According to a study by the Geological Survey US, the Indian plate pushes upwards into the Eurasian plate and this is the reason for the Himalayas raising by one centimeter every year. This build up is what cause excess pressure and it is once in several decades that the pressure is relieved through earthquakes, science would show. Nepal is situated on the Alpine Himalayan belt where the Indian and the Eurasian plates meet. The activity, which occurs causing a centimeter growth of Himalayas is prone to stress and the release of the same is through earthquakes. Hence, it is very active seismically.

Read more at: http://www.oneindia.com/feature/nepal-earthquake-has-the-myth-of-80-years-come-true-1727568.html

The magnitude-7.8 earthquake that hit Nepal on Saturday was the result of an ongoing collision between tectonic plates that has caused some of the region’s deadliest temblors, including the 2005 Kashmir quake that killed more than 80,000 people.

Along the southern border of Nepal is the so-called Indus-Yarlung suture zone, where what is now the Indian subcontinent collided 40 million to 50 million years ago with the Eurasian plate, a region that includes most of Europe and Asia.

The collision created the Himalayan mountain range, the peaks of which are still rising by around one centimeter a year as a result.

 

This devastating way of nature is just a very small event from geological perspective but we have witnessed what such a little burp of nature can do to us. It has been seen through out the history of our civilization and how  it renders us helpless only at the mercy of nature  and human grit.

In terms geology of our planet  many researchers have warned that this may not be the one mega quakes waiting to happen around the Himalayan region. Because the pressure built up by 200 years of shifting of the tectonic plates is not going to be released by earthquakes of 5-8  magnitude category.

So do we need to be worried may be so not in near future but definitely we got to be ready for natures interventions that ,we just cant predict, both materially and humanly.

 

 






Latest MIT study on how the Indian peninsula drifted so fast  30 m years ago...
http://www.microfinancemonitor.com/2015/05/05/tracing-gondwanaland-mit-study-shows-how-india-drifted-faster-than-ever-join-eurasia-80-million-years-ago/