Disaster management experts of the Home Ministry have warned that an earthquake with a magnitude of up to 8.2 can hit the Himalayan region which has already seen three major earthquakes in Nepal and Manipur, within a year. They stated that the quake might be triggered by ruptured plates in the region.

The region has experienced around 17 earthquakes with magnitudes of over 7 on the Richter scale in the past 100 years, including one in 1950 that even changed the course of rivers like Brahmaputra. The Himalayan region also falls in an area which is known to be a “very high intensity zone” for earthquakes, as reported by The Indian Express. 

The threat which was also highlighted in meetings between representatives of hill states, has been described as a “ring of fire garlanding the entire north India”. The danger is a result of interconnected plates in Nepal, Bhutan, Myanmar and India, as the disaster is expected to hit Bihar, UP and also Delhi.

Meanwhile, a seismologist at the University of Colorado said that four earthquakes of magnitudes higher than 8.0 might be coming, and if delayed further, the impact will be even more catastrophic. On the other hand, the central government is sensitising policy makers in mountain states about the “natural time bomb”, The Times Of India Reports.

As for regulatory mechanisms in Indian cities that feature on the list of cities likely to be hit by a disaster, the MHA’s analysis showed that any impact in a populous city will cause huge causalities.