Brief by Shorts91 Newsdesk / 01:00pm on 28 Nov 2025,Friday India
The Bureau of Indian Standards has dramatically upgraded India's seismic zonation map, placing the entire Himalayan arc in the newly created highest-risk Zone VI. This radical reclassification means 61% of India now falls within moderate to high earthquake hazard zones. The Himalayas, previously split between Zones IV and V, face elevated danger due to the ongoing collision between Indian and Eurasian plates moving at 5cm annually. Experts highlight that earlier maps underestimated risks from long-unruptured fault segments, particularly in Central Himalayas which haven't experienced major surface rupture in 2,000 years. The update requires stricter building codes and infrastructure planning across affected regions, reflecting accumulated tectonic stress in these geologically young, unstable mountains. (PC: Reuters)
