Delhi, Himalayan states could face 8.0 magnitude quake, warns Home Ministry report

Following the recent quake in Manipur, the union Home Ministry's disaster management experts have warned of an even bigger seismic catastrophe that could strike parts of Delhi, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh apart from Himalayan states of the country.

As per a leading English daily, the experts said that due to tectonic shifts caused by the recent quakes, namely Manipur 6.7 (Jan 2016), Nepal 7.3 (May 2015) and Sikkim 6.9 (2011) have re-reputrured the already fragile plates which cracked during the temblors. This has given rise to conditions that can lead to multiple earthquakes as high as 8.0 magnitude.

The Home Ministry's National Institute of Disaster Management (NIDM) in its post-Nepal disaster assessment has raised a red flag about possible high magnitude quake saying ,"Ring of fire garlanding the entire north India especially the mountains".

NIDM director Santosh Kumar said that Nepal, Bhutan, Myanmar and India are endangered and said that a disaster of huge scale could strike hill states including the northeast and parts of Delhi, UP and Bihar.

Hill states including those of the northeast fall under severe seismic Zone V and Bihar, Delhi, UP fall  second worst seismic Zone IV classification.

The Home Ministry's own assessment says that regulatory mechanism in quake-prone Indian cities are not upto the mark and a massive earthquake can result in massive casualty.