“No earthquake warning systems in Kashmir”: In conversation with Imtiyaz Parvez
By Gafira Qadir
The Kashmir valley is located in the volatile Himalayas range and has a history of earthquakes. The region falls in seismic Zone V, a very high-risk zone where the occurrence of microearthquakes is normal and dangers of major earthquakes are real. The Kashmir Walla spoke Imtiyaz Ahmed Parvez, Senior Principal Scientist and Professor at Bangalore based Academy of Scientific and Innovative Research (AcSIR) to know about the cause of earthquakes and preventive measures required to minimise the damage and fatalities.
In the past year, Kashmir has felt around 100 tremors. Is it a normal phenomenon or there is something to be worried about?
Well, when we speak about tremors we should also speak about the magnitude of the tremors. If these 100 tremors are microearthquakes with a magnitude less than 4.0, it is normal because Kashmir Himalayas is located in seismic Zone 5, where the occurrence of such microearthquakes is normal.
What is the cause of frequent earthquakes in Kashmir?
The majority of the earthquakes in the world are tectonic types of earthquakes. Kashmir is part of the Himalayas which has been formed as a result of the collision between Eurasian and the Indian plate. The Indian plate has been moving north for millions of years and still moving along the collision boundary with different rates in different sectors. Such deformation rates particularly in Kashmir are ~14-16 mm/year. This movement obviously builds stress and causes friction between two plates. As a result, when such stress exceeds the limit, energy releases and we experience earthquakes. We don’t see any possibility of these plate motions coming to rest, and hence earthquakes will keep occurring in this region. Historical seismicity of Kashmir valley and the adjoining region indicates about ~ 14 damaging earthquakes have occurred since the year 1123.
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