[Science Report]:Earthquake Threat in the Himalayas


This is the VOA SpecialEnglish Science Report.

American and Indian scientists say new evidence shows that Indiaand nearby countries are in danger of suffering a huge earthquake inthe future.

A recent study found rock activity and pressure under theHimalayan Mountains and the Tibetan plateau. The researchers saythere is evidence that such pressure has been eased in the past onlythrough great earthquakes.

Researchers from the University of Colorado and the IndianInstitute for Astrophysics reported the study in the publication"Science." They say the pressures in the rock under the ground willcontinue to increase as the land pushes into Asia. Scientists saythe land is moving about two meters every one-hundred years. Thiscontinued movement of rock against rock causes many smallearthquakes.

One researcher says parts of the Himalayas have not had a majorearthquake for at least five-hundred years. The last major Himalayanearthquake took place in the Indian state of Assam inNineteen-Fifty. It measured eight point five on the Richter Scale.It was one of the most powerful earthquakes ever recorded. The newstudy says another similar earthquake in the area would threatenabout fifty-million people. That is because the number of people inthe Ganges plain just south of the mountains has grown ten times inthe past one-hundred years. Such an earthquake would endanger majorcities in India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal and Bhutan. Researcherssay at least two-hundred-thousand people might die in such anearthquake.

The researchers say the governments in those countries need tostrengthen buildings to prepare for the possibility of such anevent. They say new earthquake- resistant building designs should betaken very seriously.

They also say that it appears the changes meant to strengthenbuildings have not reduced the number of people killed in a majorearthquake. For example, the earthquake in the western Indian cityof Bhuj in January killed about twenty-thousand people. Thatearthquake also was caused by the earth's movement. But it didnothing to ease the pressure hundreds of kilometers to the north andeast that could produce an even stronger earthquake.

This VOA Special English Science Report was written by NancySteinbach.

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