rePrint
Today, we reproduce an editorial of the year 2004 vintage and re-present queries that had been triggered by a weak earthquake which had coursed through Sikkim at 9 p.m. on 12 October. This is shared here afresh because seven years down the line, several of the questions unfortunately still continue to confound and the general aimlessness of disaster preparedness and planning continue to bewilder...
When Even Earthquakes Don’t Shake Us UpWhen NOW! tried to seek official information on the earthquake that shook Gangtok on Tuesday night [12 October, 2004], it was directed to IIT Kharagpur which collates and analyses all data relating to earthquakes in Sikkim. The data is collected in Sikkim and analysed in Kharagpur. In this age of instant information, Sikkim continues to prefer relying on physical collection of data which is then lugged to IIT Kharagpur for the experts there to mine and analyse. Data could be collected monthly, or even once in two months or at even longer gaps. Shouldn’t information be available much faster? It definitely should, especially since the expert on Sikkim’s tectonic deviances, SK Nath of IIT Kharagpur, has claimed that Sikkim has the “potential” to tip the Richter Scale at 8.5. To get a comparison, the Bhuj earthquake of January 2001 measured 7.6 on the Richter Scale. Data analysis of tremors in Sikkim cannot be made to wait for so long before they are analysed. Mr. Nath’s predictions cannot be dismissed as mere speculation since his study and findings on Sikkim will soon be featured in the Journal of Geophysical Research, the most respected publication in its field. His analysis would have been whetted by experts before it was cleared for publication in the Journal. Now that we know that Sikkim could be visited by a quake even more powerful than Bhuj, shouldn’t we get more concerned about preparing for it. And how are we to prepare for it when the data on the energy force rolling under our feet cannot be analysed by anyone locally?
Mr. Nath informs that most earthquakes in Sikkim are triggered by the Main Boundary Thrust of the Indian continental plate pushing against the Tibetan plate. That said, the Teesta, Rangeet and Kanchenjunga Lineaments are also known to be very active. Each time there is an earthquake, whether noticeable on the surface or not, the plates or the lineaments are releasing energy. Even a layman understands that it is by studying this release of energy that experts study and decide what the active zones are capable of throwing up. Sikkim falls in Zone 4 of earthquake stability map where the most unstable areas are put in Zone 5.
Why immediate study and analysis of earthquake related data is stressed is because only that will bring home the urgency of planning development properly. Now that we know that Sikkim could witness an earthquake measuring 8.5 on the Richter Scale, every future construction, every project will have to be taken up with this in mind. Earthquakes don’t kill people, man-made structures do and if these structures could be reinforced in a manner that they can withstand a major earthquake, many lives can be saved. The experts at IIT Kharagpur already have 12 stations which feed them with data on the nature of tremors in Sikkim, they want to increase this to 25 stations in the near future so that more exact data is available. Depending on the nature or turbulence earthquakes generate in different areas, these experts can then propose a building code and required reinforcements that would make them safe. Sikkim has to get more involved in this process of collecting and interpreting data. Waiting for experts based outside to do the job for them will just not do. Given the shortage of experts in Sikkim, we will have to depend on them for a long time, but we can at least work out simple calculations of the intensity of tremors in Sikkim in house. Can’t we? Shouldn’t we?
[editorial featured in NOW!, 14 October, 2004]
Today, we reproduce an editorial of the year 2004 vintage and re-present queries that had been triggered by a weak earthquake which had coursed through Sikkim at 9 p.m. on 12 October. This is shared here afresh because seven years down the line, several of the questions unfortunately still continue to confound and the general aimlessness of disaster preparedness and planning continue to bewilder...
When Even Earthquakes Don’t Shake Us UpWhen NOW! tried to seek official information on the earthquake that shook Gangtok on Tuesday night [12 October, 2004], it was directed to IIT Kharagpur which collates and analyses all data relating to earthquakes in Sikkim. The data is collected in Sikkim and analysed in Kharagpur. In this age of instant information, Sikkim continues to prefer relying on physical collection of data which is then lugged to IIT Kharagpur for the experts there to mine and analyse. Data could be collected monthly, or even once in two months or at even longer gaps. Shouldn’t information be available much faster? It definitely should, especially since the expert on Sikkim’s tectonic deviances, SK Nath of IIT Kharagpur, has claimed that Sikkim has the “potential” to tip the Richter Scale at 8.5. To get a comparison, the Bhuj earthquake of January 2001 measured 7.6 on the Richter Scale. Data analysis of tremors in Sikkim cannot be made to wait for so long before they are analysed. Mr. Nath’s predictions cannot be dismissed as mere speculation since his study and findings on Sikkim will soon be featured in the Journal of Geophysical Research, the most respected publication in its field. His analysis would have been whetted by experts before it was cleared for publication in the Journal. Now that we know that Sikkim could be visited by a quake even more powerful than Bhuj, shouldn’t we get more concerned about preparing for it. And how are we to prepare for it when the data on the energy force rolling under our feet cannot be analysed by anyone locally?
Mr. Nath informs that most earthquakes in Sikkim are triggered by the Main Boundary Thrust of the Indian continental plate pushing against the Tibetan plate. That said, the Teesta, Rangeet and Kanchenjunga Lineaments are also known to be very active. Each time there is an earthquake, whether noticeable on the surface or not, the plates or the lineaments are releasing energy. Even a layman understands that it is by studying this release of energy that experts study and decide what the active zones are capable of throwing up. Sikkim falls in Zone 4 of earthquake stability map where the most unstable areas are put in Zone 5.
Why immediate study and analysis of earthquake related data is stressed is because only that will bring home the urgency of planning development properly. Now that we know that Sikkim could witness an earthquake measuring 8.5 on the Richter Scale, every future construction, every project will have to be taken up with this in mind. Earthquakes don’t kill people, man-made structures do and if these structures could be reinforced in a manner that they can withstand a major earthquake, many lives can be saved. The experts at IIT Kharagpur already have 12 stations which feed them with data on the nature of tremors in Sikkim, they want to increase this to 25 stations in the near future so that more exact data is available. Depending on the nature or turbulence earthquakes generate in different areas, these experts can then propose a building code and required reinforcements that would make them safe. Sikkim has to get more involved in this process of collecting and interpreting data. Waiting for experts based outside to do the job for them will just not do. Given the shortage of experts in Sikkim, we will have to depend on them for a long time, but we can at least work out simple calculations of the intensity of tremors in Sikkim in house. Can’t we? Shouldn’t we?
[editorial featured in NOW!, 14 October, 2004]
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