Assam
may face major earthquake: US Scientists
New
Delhi: Scientists in the United States have cautioned
Indian government saying that the aftershocks of last week's
killer quake off Sumatra are moving northwards and can potentially
trigger a major earthquake in Assam. Scientists belonging
to the Centre for Earth Observing and Space Research in
George Mason University in Virginia, who have been analysing
the seismic data since December 26, have found the aftershocks
moving towards north along 90-degree Ridge. "If the sequence
of these aftershocks moves further north then it may trigger
a very big earthquake in Assam region which is expected
by the scientists since long time", said Ramesh P Singh,
a member of the team and Vice Chairman of the International
Union of Geodesy and Geophysics (IUGG) Risk Commission.
He added,
"the magnitude-5 earthquake on December 30 near Myanmar
reported by the US Geological Survey was probably caused
by the aftershocks. Its epicentre falls on the trajectory
of the aftershocks". RP Singh, who originally belongs to
Indian Institute of Technology (Kanpur) and is currently
on leave, said "no big earthquake has occurred in Assam
region for a long time and scientists believe that it is
due any time". "I am really afraid if the aftershock movement
continues northward along the 90 degree east to the main
boundary fault and main central thrust", Singh added. "I
hope it will subside. I am just alerting Government agencies",
he said. India's Department of Science and Technology has
established a GPS satellite network for monitoring crustal
movements in Assam. Singh has also requested government
agencies to keep a close eye on aftershocks.
Quakes
continue in Andamans (Go
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New
Delhi: The Indian Meteorological Department confirmed
the occurrence of two earthquakes of moderate intensity
near Car Nicobar in Andaman and Nicobar Islands since late
last night. Met officials said, two quakes measuring 5.2
and 5.0 on the Richter Scale shook the region at 11:32 pm
(IST) last night and at 3.40 am early today. While the epicentre
of the first quake was at 8.1 degrees north latitude and
92.0 degrees east longitude, the other has its epicentre
at 9.28 degrees north and 92.87 degrees east.
Mild
earthquake jolts southeastern Bangladesh (Go
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Dhaka:
An earthquake measuring 3.58 on the Richter Scale jolted
southeastern Bangladesh on Saturday, the officials news
agency said, but added there were no immediate reports of
damage or casualties. The news agency said, the tremor was
felt in the port city of Chittagong at 0632 GMT and lasted
for only 12 seconds, agency quoting officials at the country's
Geo-physical Observatory Centre. Its epicentre was 101 kilometres
off the southeastern port city, the agency said.
Tsunami
death toll nears 150,000: UN (Go
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United
Nations: The United Nations has estimated that the death
toll from last week's earthquake and tsunamis that devastated
parts of Asia is approaching 150,000 as the world's ships
and planes converged to deliver desperately needed aid to
the region. "What we see is that the figures may be approaching
150,000 dead. The vast majority of those are in Indonesia
. . . ," UN humanitarian chief Jan Egeland told reporters
in New York. He added that the final number of dead will
never be known. According to The News, the United States
upped its relief aid tenfold to 350 million dollars US as
relief efforts gained momentum. Emphasizing the American
role in the emergency, Secretary of State Colin Powell discussed
relief efforts at a UN meeting with Secretary General Kofi
Annan on Friday, before leaving for a weekend visit to the
region to assess what more is needed. The United States,
India, Australia, Japan and the UN have formed an international
coalition to co-ordinate worldwide relief and reconstruction
efforts. The Indian navy, which has already deployed 32
ships and 29 aircraft for tsunami relief and rescue work,
was sending two more ships Friday to Indonesia.
Tsunami
death toll mounts to 8955 in India (Go
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New
Delhi: The overall death toll in the tsunami tidal waves
in the country has gone up to 8955 and the number of those
missing to 3872, mostly in Andaman and Nicobar Islands,
according to figures officially released here on Saturday.
Though relief and rehabilitation work in Andaman and Nicobar
Islands and other states was going on at a "vigorous pace",
the major problem of communication network between the island
territory and the mainland would ease with teams carrying
INMARSAT leaving for faraway destinations of Katchal, Kamrota,
Terassa, Champin and Hutbay islands, Secretary (Disaster
Management) A K Rastogi told newsmen here. "The aboriginal
Jarawa tribals based in middle and South Andamans are safe
in their habitat", he said, adding their population, which
was 240 in the 2001 census, was 266 now. However, there
is no report so far about the Shompen tribes, who had been
seen during aerial survey yesterday. They have a recorded
population of 398 in 2001. Asked whether those still missing
could be treated as dead, he said though there was a strong
possibility that they were no longer alive, the laid down
procedure which existed would take at least another fortnight
due to the ongoing relief work. Of the 3872 persons missing,
3754 were in Andaman and Nicobar Islands, besides 109, seven
in Andhra Pradesh and two in Kerala. The figure of dead,
which was 7763 yesterday, rose to 8955 primarily due to
the recovery of about 1100 bodies in the last 24 hours from
inside or underneath the boats washed to the Nagapattinam
shore, Rastogi said.
