Managing Earthquake
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
Uttar Pradesh State Disaster Management Plan for Earthquake UTTAR PRADESH STATE DISASTER MANAGEMENT PLAN FOR EARTHQUAKES Prepared by Devendra Mishra, Scientist SE Head Water Resources Division & Dr. Aniruddha Uniyal, Scientist SC Earth Resources Division Remote sensing Applications Center, Uttar Pradesh Sector ‘G’, Jankipuram Lucknow-226021 Submitted to U.P. Academy of Administration & Management Sector – D, Aliganj, Lucknow – 226024 March, 2010 Uttar Pradesh State Disaster Management Plan for Earthquake List of Acronyms ADM - Additional District Magistrate BSNL - Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited BMTPC - Building Material & Technology Promotion Council CDO - Chief Development Officer CPCB - Central Pollution Control Board CWC - Central Water Commission DCR - District Control Room DM - District Magistrate Dy.SP - Deputy Superintendent of Police DMC - Disaster Management Cell EOC - Emergency Operations Centre ESF - Emergency Support Function FCR - Field Control Room GOI - Government of India HPC - High Powered Committee IMD - Indian Meteorological Department NDMP - National Disaster Management Plan ORS - Oral Re-hydrated Solution PAC - Provincial Armed Constabulary RSAC,U.P. - Remote Sensing Applications Centre Uttar Pradesh, Lucknow SDM - Sub-Divisional Magistrate SP - Superintendent of Police SSP - Sr. Superintendent of Police S & R - Search and Rescue STD - Subscriber Trunk Dialing SAR - Search and Rescue SRC - State Relief Commissioner UN - United Nations UNDP - United Nations Development Programme UPSEB - Uttar Pradesh State Electricity Board UPSRTC - Uttar Pradesh State Road Transport Corporation Uttar Pradesh State Disaster Management Plan for Earthquake ------------------------ 2 Prepared by Sponsored by Remote Sensing Applications Centre-U.P., Lucknow U.P. Academy of Administration & Management, Lucknow Uttar Pradesh State Disaster Management Plan for Earthquake Chapter I Introduction 1.1 Preface Disaster An event natural or man-made, sudden or progressive, which impacts with such severity that the affected community has to respond by taking exceptional measures. Disaster Management An applied science which seeks, by the systematic observation and analysis of disasters to improve measures relating to prevention, mitigation, preparedness, emergency response and recovery. Earthquake An earthquake is a sudden and temporary vibration set up on the earth’s surface, ranging from a faint tremor to a wild motion, due to the sudden release of energy stored in the rocks beneath the earths surface. Earthquake is a form of energy of wave motion which originates in a limited region and then spreads out in all directions from the source of disturbance. Earthquakes usually last for a few seconds to a minute. Sometimes, the vibrations are so feeble that we can not feel them, whereas the violent earthquakes result in huge material loss and the loss of human lives. The point within the earth where earthquake-waves originate is called the focus and from the focus the vibrations spread in all directions. They reach the surface first at the point immediately above the focus and this point is called the epicenter. It is at the epicenter where the shock of the earthquake is first experienced. It is, however, evident that no earthquake can possibly originate at a mere point alone. Earthquakes occur beneath the surface of the earth, where the rocks yield suddenly, of course, after prolonged build-up of stresses. They are often associated with fault-lines, which provide a zone of fracture and easy yielding. Earthquake emerges at various depths, which may be anywhere in the crust or as far as 700 km down into the mantle. Due to the sudden yielding of rocks to stresses, waves of energy are sent out through the earth. These waves of energy are called seismic waves. The seismic waves emerge in the focus of an earthquake and radiate outward, like ripples produced when a stone is thrown into a pool of water, gradually losing energy. India has been witnessing disasters since times immemorial. Earthquake has been among the most devastating natural phenomenon. About 56% ------------------------ 1 Prepared by Sponsored by Remote Sensing Applications Centre-U.P., Lucknow U.P. Academy of Administration & Management, Lucknow Uttar Pradesh State Disaster Management Plan for Earthquake area of our country is prone to earthquakes. According to Paul (2002) the earthquakes are un-preventable and unpredictable. The impact of earthquake is sudden with little or no warning. During the last 100 years India has lost about 1,00,000 lives due to earthquakes on an average of about 1000 lives per year. In 1905 Kangra earthquake (of magnitude 8.0) in Himanchal Pradesh 20,000 lives perished within seconds. In 2001 about 13,800 lives were lost in Gujarat due to Bhuj earthquake, together with hundred of thousand of houses collapsed or severely damaged in each event. One can imagine its impact on survivors and the economy of the region affected by earthquake (Arya, 2004). India is divided into four seismic zones. The Himalaya mountain is particularly vulnerable to high seismicity so are the vast stretch of the plains (Ganga Plain) fronting the mountain are where more than 40% of the Indian population lives. The Indian sub-continent is subjected to varying degrees of earthquake hazard, which is amply demonstrated by the fact that more than 650 earthquakes in excess of magnitude 5 have been recorded from the Indian territory during the last one century. Majority of these events were located in the Himalayas, seismically the most active continent-continent collision zone which accounts for approximately 15% of global yearly seismic energy release. Four great earthquakes i.e. the 1897 Shillong earthquake, the 1905 Kangra earthquake, the 1934 Bihar-Nepal earthquake and the 1950 Assam earthquake occurred in this belt in a short period of about 53 years. During the period of 1990-2005, India has witnessed six major earthquakes that struck both the Himalayas and the relatively tranquil peninsular shield. These include 1991 Uttarkashi earthquake, 1999 Chamoli earthquake, 1993 Killari earthquake, 1997 Jabalpur earthquake, 2001 Bhuj earthquake and 2005 Pakistan earthquake which caused damage in Jammu & Kashmir as well. Bhuj earthquake in 2001 caused severe damage in Gujarat. 1.2 A Brief Profile of Uttar Pradesh Most of the state of Uttar Pradesh lies in the Gangetic Plain and has a population of 16,61,98,000 according to 2001 census and has an area of 240,928 sq. km. There are 71 districts, 312 tehsils, 820 blocks and 107452 villages. The State has population density of 690 per sq. km. (as against the national average of 312). Uttar Pradesh is bounded by Nepal and Uttarakhand on the North, Himachal Pradesh on the north west, Haryana on the west, Rajasthan on the south west, Madhya Pradesh on the south and south- west, and Bihar on the east and Jharkhand on the south east. Situated between 23o 52'N and 30o 25'N latitudes and 77o 3' and 84o 39'E longitudes, this is the fourth largest state in the country. A part of Uttar Pradesh has been separated and formed into a new state Uttarakhand on November 9th 2000. ------------------------ 2 Prepared by Sponsored by Remote Sensing Applications Centre-U.P., Lucknow U.P. Academy of Administration & Management, Lucknow Uttar Pradesh State Disaster Management Plan for Earthquake Uttar Pradesh can be divided into two distinct hypsographical regions : 1. The Gangetic plain 2. The Vindya hills and plateau in the south Geologically this region is a fore-deep, a downwarp of the Himalayan foreland, of variable depth, converted into flat plains by long-vigorous sedimentation. Earthquakes have occurred in mostly all parts of Uttar Pradesh. Major earthquakes in the neighboring states of New Delhi, Uttarakhand, Bihar and from across the Indo-Nepal border have also shaken many parts of Uttar Pradesh. Intensification of various developmental activities in earthquake prone areas like rapid urbanization, industrial growth, installation of capital intensive hydel and nuclear power projects etc., have also brought in new challenges before the earth science community. The planners, engineers and technical administrators now require more precise and micro-level data related to earthquake than a few decades back when an earthquake data list for a particular area or a regional seismic zoning map was considered adequate for the purpose. Although occurrence of an earthquake cannot be predicted precisely in terms of time or place, yet the seismic zones are very well drawn and careful planning, design and the appropriate measures can minimize the damaging effects. Earthquake is an unavoidable unpredictable infrequent phenomenon. Its parameters are its location, its destructive energy and the depth of focus below ground level. Earthquakes destroy buildings and infrastructure with secondary effects, i.e. fires, embankment failure, release of poisonous gases, release of nuclear radiation, liquefaction etc. and the losses may some times be much more than as a direct consequence of earthquake itself. Earthquake disaster mitigation planning must take both the primary and secondary effects into consideration. For effective earthquake disaster mitigation, the pre-earthquake phase needs to be utilized for planning and implementing preparedness measures on the one hand and working our preparedness activities on the other. Earthquake in itself is not a disaster. Disaster is caused due to failure of man-made structures, lack of preparedness and awareness; so far, earthquake disaster