Hyderabad: The Himalayas remain one of the world’s most earthquake-prone regions as the Indian tectonic plate continues to push beneath Tibet at roughly 5 cm a year, building enormous underground stress, a recent study by Hyderabad’s National Geophysical Research Institute (NGRI) has found.
Rather than moving smoothly, the plate bends, tears and forms an uneven, tongue-like structure that plunges to depths of up to 100 km beneath Tibet. The study also found a sharp increase in crustal thickness across the region—from about 35 km in northern India to nearly 70 km beneath the Tibetan Plateau.
The study, titled “Seismology Meets Gravity: Earthquake Depth Distributions and Gravity Anomalies in Himalaya–Tibet and Indian Subcontinent and Their Relations with Lithospheric Structure,” was conducted by Dr Ravi Kumar Muppidi of NGRI’s Gravity-Magnetic Studies Group and published in the journal Geophysics for Advancing Seismology. The study does not predict when a particular earthquake will strike, but researchers said a better understanding of the plate’s structure and individual fault segments could improve seismic hazard assessment and preparedness across the Himalayan region. Researchers combined gravity measurements, earthquake records and satellite data to examine how the Indian plate behaves as it converges with the Eurasian plate. The study also identified ancient buried ridges beneath the Ganga Basin—including the Delhi–Haridwar, Faizabad and Munger–Saharsa ridges—that extend towards the Himalayas. These structures can concentrate stress and divide the Himalayan front into distinct segments, influencing the distribution of earthquake risk. You Can Also Check: Gold Rate in Hyderabad | Silver Rate in Hyderabad | Bank Holidays in Hyderabad | Public Holidays in Hyderabad | Hyderabad AQI | Weather in Hyderabad | Petrol Price in Hyderabad | Diesel Price in Hyderabad | CNG Price in Hyderabad | LPG Price in Hyderabad