“There is little chance of another earthquake of this magnitude repeating itself immediately (in Sikkim)”, said India meteorological department (IMD) assistant meteorologist, Madhukar Jadhav to DNA. Sikkim suffered an earthquake of the magnitude of 6.9 on the Richter scale on Sunday evening.

(Pic Courtesy: USGS)

“The worst is over for Sikkim”, Jadhav said. But he added that there could be aftershocks of less than 5 magnitude. Quakes below 5 are not life threatening. According to Jadhav, IMD records at least 10-15 minor tremors across the country everyday.

Meanwhile, Shillong-based Central Seismological Observatory said that the North-East is very vulnerable to quakes and may experience even greater quakes in future.

“Earlier, we have experienced up to 8.5 magnitude quake. As the region lies in a high seismic zone, we may experience even greater quakes,” a scientist of the Observatory told DNA. “We may experience up to greater than IX intensity of earthquakes,” he added.

Sikkim lies on an earthquake fault line and in zone 5 of the earthquake safety grid which means that the entire North-East India have a very weak ground base and hence are most prone to earthquakes and tremors.

Other parts which also belonged to the zone 5 (most quake prone) were south-west Gujarat, including Bhuj, entire North-East India, parts of Uttarakhand, Himachal and J&K.

 

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