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North Sikkim geologically vulnerable: experts

By Correspondent

MANGAN (SIKKIM), Sept 24 � The Geological Survey of India has sent teams to the earthquake affected areas in Sikkim to study the causes of the disaster and the State�s seismic vulnerability.

�The affected region is geologically considered to be a weak zone and prone to earthquakes. It is termed as a major fault zone in the Himalayan region because of the convergence of tectonic plates there,� Prashanta Bhaumik, a senior geologist at the GSI�s Sikkim office said.

�There were earthquakes before, but this time the devastation was more because of the severity and the long duration of the calamity,� he said.

The earthquake measured 6.8 on the Richter scale and it lasted for a fairly longer period than earlier and its effect was felt as far as in Chennai, he stated.

�Moreover, the earthquake was shallow with a depth of 10 to 20 km and naturally the earth surface was hit with a severe intensity, � he added.

Bhaumik said the epicentre was 68 km north of Mangan, near the Indo-Nepal border, which is why the worst-affected places were those in North Sikkim like Dzongu, Chungthang, Lachen and Lachung and small hamlets surrounding them.

�Previously the most severe earthquake was in 1980 when the intensity was 6.1 on the Richter scale and the casualty was much lower,� according to him.

Bhaumik said the GSI has a permanent station at Ranipur and there are temporary stations too to monitor earthquakes and other natural disasters. He said a team of two scientists � a seismologist and a geologist � have started work on finding out the reasons for the quake which has cut a wide swathe of destruction in Sikkim, West Bengal, Tibet and to some extent in Bhutan.

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