Be on guard: Quake experts to masses

SHILLONG, February 19: As many as 393 earthquakes were recorded by the Central Seismological Observatory, Shillong which shook parts of the Northeastern region and adjoining areas of Myanmar, Bangladesh and Bhutan since 1980, but majority of these tremors were not felt in most parts of the region. Seismologists here are of the view that there is no reason to panic that a major earthquake is imminent in view of the big number earthquakes striking the region which is one of the most quakeprone areas in the entire world. Dismissing predictions of a major quake hitting the Northeast in the near future as baseless, seismologists told The Assam Tribune : None can predict an earthquake. Even the talk of a 50-year cycle of earthquakes in the region based on the major quakes of 1897 and 1950 is not founded on scientific study, they asserted. Of the 393 quakes recorded by the Observatory here during the last two decades, the year 1983 witnessed 20, 1985-20, 1989-23, 1992-24, 1994-36, 1995-25 and 1997-25. An interesting fact emerging from the Observatory records is that the epicentres of the earthquakes during the last two decades have been mostly in remote and sparsely populated areas in the hill states of Manipur, Mizoram, Tripura, Arunachal Pradesh and neighbouring countries of Bangladesh, Myanmar, Bhutan and Tibet. As many as 18 quakes rock NE annually. The Shillong Observatory was set up in 1952. There are four more stationed at Agartala, Imphal, Tura and Lekhapani (Assam). The experts, however, stressed 'There should be no complacency that no major earthquake will strike the region.' Accordingly all necessary precautions should be taken and preparations made to contain the damages in the event of a disaster.'