After the Turkey-Syria earthquake caused major destruction in the country and led to thousands of deaths, many experts believe that an earthquake of a similar magnitude can hit India and lead to loss of property if proper precautionary measures are not taken.

The National Geophysical Research Institute (NGRI) in India said on Tuesday that the Himalayan region of the country can be rocked by a massive earthquake soon, which can have a major impact on Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand.

It is likely that a massive earthquake can hit Himachal Pradesh and have an impact on Uttarakhand and Nepal, but the loss of life can be prevented if strong structures are built and the authorities take proper preventative measures to make sure that the destruction is not at a higher level.

NGRI’s chief scientist Dr N Purnachandra Rao spoke to the media and said that Earth’s surface comprises various plates that are constantly in motion and the Indian plate is moving about 5 cm per year, which is causing a lot of stress in the Himalayan region.

Hyderabad| Earth’s surface comprises various plates that are constantly in motion. The Indian plate is moving about 5 cm per year, leading to accumulation of stress along the Himalayas increasing the possibility of a greater earthquake: Dr N Purnachandra Rao, Chief Scientist,NGRI pic.twitter.com/YCwCInLcm8
— ANI (@ANI) February 21, 2023

This increase in stress on the region is giving rise to the possibility of a major earthquake, which is most likely set to hit areas like Himachal Pradesh, and Uttarakhand. The earthquake in the area can be of a magnitude of 8 on the Richter scale.

The expert said, “We have a strong network of 18 seismograph stations in Uttarakhand. The region referred to as the seismic gap between Himachal & western part of Nepal incl Uttarakhand is prone to earthquakes that might occur at any time.”

This comes as Turkey and Syria were hit with back-to-back earthquakes which caused a lot of destruction in both countries. The death toll of the earthquake has now crossed 50,000, with many people still believed to be trapped.

India sent humanitarian aid to Turkey and Syria as part of Operation Dost, where it sent many rescue teams and food grains to help those who were left without homes and resources after the earthquake.

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