Over 50 districts identified as quake-prone in Uttar Pradesh

Lucknow, Apr 30: The killer earthquake in Nepal has rung alarm bells across Uttar Pradesh where 50 of the 75 districts have been found to be quake-prone.

National Institute of Disaster Management (NIDM) under the Ministry of Home Affairs has identified 29 districts under Zone-IV, considered to be the high seismic zone.

The NIDM has divided the state into three zones, with areas bordering Nepal and Uttarkashi in Uttarakhand figuring in Zone-IV. [Earthquake: 38 Indian cities lie in high-risk seismic zones]

The intensity of the tremors have led experts to rethink on how safe is the state from quakes.

While Saturday's quake measuring 7.9 on Richter scale that epicentred in Nepal left a trail of massive destruction in the Himalayan country, Uttar Pradesh felt bouts of aftershocks mostly in Barabanki, Sant Kabir Nagar and Gorakhpur districts.

Badaun, Kushinagar, Shravasti and Balia were the other districts in the state affected by the tremors.

Almost 14 people had died in the quake in Uttar Pradesh.

Seismic expert and former Director of Geological Survey of India (GSI) V K Joshi apprehended that growing urbanisation in Uttar Pradesh might result in massive damage in terms of life and property in future. [No quake forecast for India by NASA: Government]

"Luckily, this time the impact of tremors from Nepal was not so aggressive in UP," he told.

It was the alluvium cover in the Indo-Gangetic Plain, which acted as a cushion and prevented large-scale damage in the state.

In geological terms, the state falls in the "safe" zone as the alluvium cover acts a "shock absorber".

The districts falling in Zone-IV are Saharanpur, Muzaffarnagar, Baghpat, Bijnor, Meerut, Ghaziabad, Gautam Buddh Nagar, JP Nagar, Rampur, Moradabad, Bulandshar, Shravasti, Balrampur, Siddharth Nagar, Maharajganj, Kushinagar, and parts of Pilibhit, Shajahanpur, Kheri, Baharaich, Gonda, Mathura, Aligarh, Budaun, Bareilly, Basti, Sant Kabir Nagar, Deoria and Ballia.

PTI