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Chamoli quake damage less as epicentre was deeper: expert

Sunil Jha in New Delhi

The Chamoli quake had registered 6.8 on the Richter scale -- a little more than that of the 1991 Uttarkashi quake which had claimed more than 1500 lives. But the surface damage this time was relatively less as the epicentre was deeper. If the quake had a little less depth, the damage would have been greater.

''The surface damage was comparatively less because the depth of the quake was 30 kilometres,'' Additional Director-General of the seismological department, S K Srivastava told UNI in New Delhi. ''The depth of the epicentre of the Uttarkashi quake on October 20, 1991 was merely 12 kilometres. This caused a large number of casualties, though the quake measured 6.6 on the Richter scale.''

He said if the depth of the quake was higher, the impact would be felt in a greater area but with a low intensity.

''The deeper the quake, the lesser will be the surface damage and vice versa,'' Dr Srivastava said, adding that the low depth of the quake at Latur-Osmanabad on September 30, 1993 (12 kilometres) was again the reason for the higher number of casualties. This quake had measured 6.3 on the Richter scale.

He said the surface damage in the Jabalpur quake of 1997 was less as the depth was 35 kilometres.

Srivastava was of the view that due to landslides, taking place in the aftermath of the Chamoli quake, reports of damage to property and death of persons will be slow to come and the toll might rise.

Low population density in the area could be another reason for fewer casualties, he said.

UNI

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