Question : Earthquake Management

(a) whether there is an increase in the incidents of earthquake in the country during each of the last three years and the current year;

(b) if so, the details thereof along with the number of persons killed/injured and damage to property reported in such incidents, State-wise;

(c) the mechanism followed by the Government to compensate the losses incurred by the people due to earthquakes in the country;

(d) the details of earthquake mitigation measures adopted by the Government;

(e) whether the Government has taken advantage of the mechanism of sharing information on earthquakes between several countries during the said period; and

(f) if so, the details thereof?

MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF HOME AFFAIRS
(SHRI KIREN RIJIJU)
(a) & (b) The National Centre for Seismology (NCS), Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES) has informed that statistically & scientifically it is not possible to state whether there is any change in frequency of earthquake on the basis of one or two years data. However, if looking a
larger period data then it suggests that apparently, there is no change in frequency of earthquakes in the country.
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LS.US.Q.No.1471 FOR 26.07.2016
During the last three years the following two earthquakes of great intensity occurred in the country, are given as below:
(i) Earthquake occurred during 2015: As per the information received from the State Governments, 79 human lives (58 in Bihar, 17 in Uttar Pradesh, 3 in West Bengal, 1 in Rajasthan) have been lost due to the earthquake of 25th April 2015.
(ii) Earthquake occurred during 2016: As per the information received from the State Government of Manipur, 10 human lives had been lost due to the earthquake of 4th January 2016, and 01 human live lost due to earthquake of 13th April 2016, besides damage to 4184 public and private properties. No major casualty or damage was reported from other States of the country including North-Eastern States.
(c) With regard to compensation, it is stated financial assistance in the wake of natural disasters is by way of relief and not for compensation of loss as suffered/ claimed. However, financial relief of immediate nature, it is mentioned that the concerned State Governments undertake relief operations in the wake of natural disasters including earthquake from the State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF) already placed at their disposal. An additional assistance is supplemented from the National Disaster Response Fund (NDRF).
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LS.US.Q.No.1471 FOR 26.07.2016
(d) Till date, there is no proven scientific technique available, anywhere in the world, to forecast/ predict the occurrence of earthquakes with reasonable degree of accuracy with regard to space, time and magnitude and also there is no scientific technique yet available to prevent the occurrence of earthquake.
However, guidelines have been published by Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS), Building Materials & Technical Promotion Council (BMTPC) and Housing and Urban Development Corporation (HUDCO) etc. for the design and construction of earthquake resistant structure to prevent, mitigate and minimize the loss of life and damage to property caused by earthquakes. Further, National Building Code provides various provisions for earthquake resistant design and construction of buildings in various zones including those in North-Eastern part of the Country. These guidelines are in wide circulation amongst the public and the administrative authorities responsible for the design and construction of earthquake resistant structures in earthquake prone areas.
(e) & (f) As per National Center for Seismology, Ministry of Earth Sciences, the earthquake data from three Indian stations namely, Shillong, Minicoy and Port Blair are shared in real time with International Seismological Organizations for use in tsunami warning.
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