How much percentage of Indian land is prone to earthquakes?

It is important to learn about the earthquake zones before shifting cities or moving to a new house. Even though earthquakes are not happening all the time, we always have irrational fears related to earthquakes and we think about what are the earthquake-prone areas in India. Since I am a Geography teacher let me help you clear all the doubts regarding earthquake regions in India.

What are the most earthquake prone areas in India?

There are four seismic zones in India that help us to identify earthquake-prone areas. 

Zone V- Zone V are the highest earthquake-prone areas. Rann of Kutch, Eastern region of India falls under Zone V.

Zone IV- Areas like Delhi, North, North Eastern regions in India are considered earthquake-prone areas. 

Zone III- Areas falling under Zone III have a lesser chance of earthquakes compared to Zone IV regions. Areas like Maharashtra, Gujarat, Andaman and Nicobar Islands fall under the Zone III region. Although, the biggest earthquake in India occurred in Bhuj in the state of Gujarat. The magnitude of the earthquake was 7.7 Mw.

Zone II- Zone II have a low risk of earthquakes. Most regions in India fall under Zone II.

Zone I was excluded after the Bhuj earthquake in 2001.

How much percentage of Indian land is prone to earthquakes?

Well, we have read about seismic zones in the Geography book but the data always gets updated. According to the Times of India, nearly 59% of India's land are prone to earthquakes. According to the data nearly 304 million households can get affected by the earthquake differing in magnitudes. Parts of Gujarat, Eastern India including Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland falls under Zone V. These areas are considered disaster prone areas in India.

I hope you know now what are the earthquake prone areas in India.

We all know, destructive earthquakes have occurred frequently on Indian soil. The Indian region is pushing towards Asia at a rate of about 47 millimetres per year. It is a major contributor to earthquakes' great intensity and frequency. So let me tell you about the earthquake prone states in India.

What are the areas affected by earthquake in India?

In the end, only seven cities had minimal risk, compared to 30 cities with medium risk and 13 cities with high danger. The recently issued index assessment stated that the situation is serious and requires urgent action. You can refer to the above answer to know about the zones in detail. The following are the earthquake prone cities in India:

1) Aizawl, Pithoragarh, Srinagar, Uttarkashi, Nainital, and Bhagalpur are among the cities with a high risk of danger. 

2) Darbhanga, Ghaziabad, Itanagar, Guwahati, Dispur, Port Blair, Imphal, Shillong, Kohima, Agartala, Chamoli, Jammu, and Mathura are towns with a moderate risk of danger.

3) Aizawl, Solan, Gangtok, and Vijayawada are on the record of places with high risk and exposure.

4) Ghaziabad, Pune, and Mumbai are medium risk cities with high exposure.

5) Shimla, Aizawl, Pithoragarh, Nainital, and Uttarkashi are high risk towns with higher exposure.

6) Darbhanga, Patna, Mandi, and Chennai are high risk towns with higher exposure.

What are the top 10 earthquake prone areas in India?

1. Guwahati

2. Srinagar

3. Mumbai

4. Pune

5. Kerala

6. Delhi

7. Chennai

8. Kochi

9. Thiruvananthapuram

10. Patna

This is the list of the earthquake prone states in India.

Hi there,

Knowing which areas are the most prone to earthquakes or the most earthquake prone area in India is absolutely necessary. Not just from the geographical point of view, but also from the perspective of safe living. I have a close friend who is a seismologist and he has enlightened me a lot about such issues over time. Although we have the tendency of ignoring such topics because the outcomes of earthquakes seem far-fetched. This is also one of the reasons why we do not carefully consider how prone an area is to earthquakes while moving to a new city or buying a new property in an area. This is why I am going to fortify all the points mentioned by Mr. Amit in his response.

The percentage of earthquake prone areas in India is 59%, as already mentioned by Mr. Amit. Yes, you read that right. According to the latest seismic zone map released, about 59 per cent of India's geographical area is prone to moderate or severe earthquakes. It also shows that nearly 95 per cent of the country's 304 million households are vulnerable to earthquakes to varying degrees.

Zone-V (Very High Risk), Zone-IV (High Risk), Zone-III (Moderate Risk), and Zone-II (Low Risk) are the four seismic zones in the area. The details of the zones and why these zones are called so have been explained quite clearly by Mr. Amit in his response. I would just like to add some more points to that. 

Zone V has the maximum seismic activity, while zone II has the least. Approximately 11% of the land is in zone V, 18% in zone IV, 30% in zone III, and the rest in zone II. The entire Himalayan belt is thought to be vulnerable to large earthquakes with magnitudes greater than 8.0. According to India's National Disaster Management Authority, four such earthquakes have occurred in the last 50 years: 1897 Shillong (M8.7), 1905 Kangra (M8.0), 1934 Bihar-Nepal (M8.3), and 1950 Assam-Tibet (M8.6). There were 1,013 earthquakes of magnitude 3 or higher reported between March 2020 and February 2021. According to government data, the majority of earthquakes occurred in the Himalayan arc region, IndoMyanmar region, and Andaman-Nicobar region.

Now that you know about the most earthquake prone area in India, I’m sure you will make a wiser decision and be more careful while buying properties in such areas.