New Delhi,Dec.20 : The national capital might be hit by a quake with a magnitude of 8.5 in the near future, according to a study.
The study has warned that the earthquake of this magnitude or higher scale could rock the Himalayan region.
An “enormous stacking up of strain” in the Himalayas is building up in the region which will be fatal, the study said.
Seismologist CP Rajendran of Bengaluru-based Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research said that an enormous strain has been building up in the Himalayan region since the 15th century.
If an earthquake of such a massive magnitude would ever strike the national capital, then only 20 per cent of the buildings could withstand the tremor.
This is will occur as there are three fault lines in Delhi, the report said. The worst affected region will be Gurugram as it lies on seven fault lines, it added.
Delhi’s seismic zone was upgraded from zone three to zone four after the devastating 2001 Kutch earthquake in Gujarat, the experts said.
Prasanta Patnaik