By : Hindustan Times
The high intensity earthquake, that jolted Afghanistan and Pakistan and caused heavy damage also raised worry for India. Eventhough the earthquake didn’t cause any damage to any part of India, but it was registered as the 6th earthquake that shook India in March. Notably, hours after the 6.6 magnitude earthquake, a mild intensity earthquake shook Himachal Pradesh during the early hours on Wednesday.
On 2nd March, a 4.0 magnitude earthquake hit the eastern region in Nepal. Immediatly after the first earthquake, a 4.1 magnitude earthquake was observed on March 3. Its epicentre lied 10 km deep along Arunachal Pradesh. On March 7, 4.9 magnitude earthquake jolted Andaman and Nicobar islands. Next day, 4.0 magnitdue earthquake hit Glgit-Baltistan region of Pakistan. On March 12, a 4.8 magnitude earthquake hit Wangjing, Manipur. With this, the sixth one was hit on 21 March followed by another quake in Himachal Pradesh region.
Why northwest India received tremors for longer time?
Notably, people in northwest India and Delhi felt the tremors for a relatively longer time. According to seismologitsts, the reason why most people in northwest India and Delhi felt tremors for longer time is because the depth of the fault was more than 150 km.
“As we know that the Indo-Australian plate is colliding with the Eurasian plate and this release happened in that region. The Hindu-Kush-Himalayan (HKH) region is very active seismologically. The reason why people in northwest India and Delhi felt for a relatively longer time is because of the depth. The depth of the fault is over 150 km so first primary waves were felt and then secondary waves. Aftershocks are likely now but they can’t be forecast,”JL Gautam, head of office and Scientist at the National Center for Seismology told HT.
