Earthquake in Delhi: No Need for panic over tremors, says expert

Earthquake in Delhi: Director of the National Centre for Seismology (NCS) has said there is no need for panic over the recent seismic activities in the Delhi-NCR region. Director B.K. Bansal said: "However, it is important to undertake preparedness and mitigation measures to reduce the earthquake risk."

Bansal was speaking at a meeting convened by the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) to discuss the various mitigation and preparedness measures to reduce the earthquake risk in the Delhi-NCR region.

The NCS Director said that given the seismic history of Delhi and its vicinity, the occurrence of minor earthquakes in Delhi-NCR is not unusual.

However, there is no proven technology in the world wherein earthquakes are predicted with certainty in terms of its location, time and magnitude.

The NDMA has requested the states to ensure compliance of building bylaws to make upcoming constructions earthquake resilient and to avoid addition of vulnerable building stock.

"Identify the vulnerable priority structures, especially lifeline buildings, and retrofit them," it said.

"Private buildings should also be retrofitted to reduce the risk in a phased manner, wherever required. Conduct reguurlar mock exercises to deal with earthquakes and come out with SOPs for immediate response after an earthquake," said a government statement on Thursday.

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It also called for undertaking public awareness programmes on dos and don`ts with regard to earthquakes.