Background

• An earthquake is an intense shaking of Earth’s surface. The shaking is caused by movements in Earth’s outermost layer, the crust.
• Although the Earth looks like a solid place from the surface, it’s actually extremely active just below the surface. 
• The Earth is made of four basic layers: a solid crust, a hot, nearly solid mantle, a liquid outer core and a solid inner core.
• The solid crust and top, stiff layer of the mantle make up a region called the lithosphere. 
• The lithosphere isn’t a continuous piece that wraps around the whole Earth like an eggshell. It’s actually made up of giant puzzle pieces called tectonic plates. 
• Tectonic plates are constantly shifting as they drift around on the viscous, or slowly flowing, mantle layer below.
• This non-stop movement causes stress on Earth’s crust. When the stresses get too large, it leads to cracks called faults. 
• When tectonic plates move, it also causes movements at the faults. An earthquake is the sudden movement of Earth’s crust at a fault line.
• The focus, also known as the hypocenter, is the point within the Earth where an earthquake starts. The epicenter is the point on the Earth’s surface directly above the focus.

Vulnerability of India in facing Earthquakes

• High Seismic Risk Zones and Population Density: India has several high-risk seismic zones (II, III, IV, and V), with Zone V being the most vulnerable. The Himalayan region, Indo-Gangetic plains, and parts of the Northeast are particularly prone to major earthquakes.
  • Densely populated cities in these zones, such as Delhi, Kolkata, and Guwahati, heighten the risk of mass casualties and infrastructural collapse.
• Weak and Non-Compliant Infrastructure: Many buildings, especially in older urban areas, do not adhere to seismic-resistant construction standards. Not all critical infrastructure like bridges, dams, and power plants are designed to withstand high-magnitude earthquakes.
  • Illegal construction and rapid urbanization without regulatory oversight further increase vulnerability.
• Inadequate Disaster Preparedness and Response: There is a lack of strict enforcement of building codes, particularly in the Himalayan and Indo-Gangetic regions. Emergency response mechanisms, including trained personnel and evacuation plans, are insufficiently developed.
  • Public awareness about earthquake safety protocols is minimal, leading to chaos during tremors.
• Environmental and Geological Fragility: Large-scale deforestation, unregulated hydropower projects, and infrastructure development in the Himalayas destabilize the already fragile terrain. The presence of glacial lakes increases the risk of landslides and floods following an earthquake.
  • Example: Land subsidence in Joshimath.
• Economic and Rehabilitation Challenges: The financial burden of earthquake-proofing infrastructure is high, and government allocation for seismic resilience remains inadequate. 
  • In the event of a major quake, costs related to rescue, relief, and rehabilitation of displaced populations could be very high. 
  • Lack of widespread seismic insurance coverage increases economic vulnerability for both individuals and businesses.

Steps to reduce the Vulnerability

• • Strict Enforcement of Seismic-Resistant Infrastructure: Strengthen and strictly enforce building codes across all high-risk zones.
    • Strengthening of old and weak structures, especially in urban areas and critical infrastructure (bridges, dams, nuclear plants) should be taken on a priority basis.
  • New Vulnerability Mapping: Create a new vulnerability mapping by combining the seismic zonation maps and new carefully drawn mapped-plans for the protection of highly vulnerable structures.
    • This should be followed by assessing the seismic status of high follow-on secondary risk structures such as hydel projects and atomic reactors (Narora in Uttar Pradesh is located in Zone IV).

• Strengthening Early Warning and Monitoring Systems: Expand seismic monitoring networks with advanced sensors and AI-based prediction models. Collaboration with earthquake-prone countries (Japan, the U.S.) to improve early detection technology can be taken up.

• Sustainable Land Use and Infrastructure Planning: Regulation infrastructure projects in fragile seismic zones, especially in the Himalayas and seismically fragile regions should be taken up.

• • Promotion of earthquake-resistant urban planning, ensuring open spaces for evacuation.
• Insurance Framework: A government-backed earthquake insurance scheme for homes and businesses can be developed for greater adoption of insurance schemes.
  • Private sector can be encouraged to participate in seismic risk financing through provision of incentives.
• Disaster Preparedness and Public Awareness: Conduct large-scale earthquake drills in schools, offices, and residential areas. Integrate earthquake education into school curricula to build awareness from an early age.
  • Strengthen National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and state emergency teams with specialized training.

Conclusion

• India has the institutional advantage with the presence of a Ministry of Earth Sciences and a Disaster Management Authority. The expertise of these bodies will help in any scheme towards earthquake preparedness.
• The understanding is that the earthquakes are not to be prevented, they can scarcely be predicted but what we can do is prepare ourselves adequately to handle the outcomes of an earthquake disaster.