Indian Earthquakes : An Overview

India has a very high frequency of great earthquakes (magnitude greater than 8.0); for instance, during 1897 to 1950, the country was hit by four great earthquakes. However, the frequency of moderate earthquakes (magnitude 6.0 to 7.0) in the country is rather low. Moderate earthquakes create awareness and lead to improvements in construction at a low human cost. We have not had a earthquake of magnitude greater than 7.0 in the last 40 years. Also, we have also not seen earthquake shaking intensity of more than VIII or IX in the last 40 years. And finally, except the Jabalpur earthquake (1997), the other recent moderate earthquakes have not hit any of the large cities. This has led to complacence in our earthquake preparedness. We now have orders of magnitude higher levels of man-made construction and a significantly larger population than what we had at the time of great earthquakes of 1897, 1934, or 1950; hence, we are that much more vulnerable to earthquake disasters.