India’s water, energy demand spotlight risk of human-induced quakes

Earthquakes are usually natural – but not always. Sometimes some natural factors can combine with human activities that will lead to earthquakes. Earthquakes caused by human activities are called human -induced earthquakes. Researchers according to an estimation Seismological Research Letters In 2017, more than 700 people worldwide earthquakes have been recorded in the last 150 years and becoming more common.

It has been shown that human activities such as mining, removal of groundwater, retention behind a dam, injecting fluid on the ground, building high buildings and coastal structures have been shown to induce seismic activity. This is due to experts, repetitive loading and emptying of the shell, causing the accumulation between the tectonic plates, which modulates seismic activity.

In India, seismologists examine how the amount of water above and below the ground can affect geological processes.

A study in 2021 Scientific reports Shallow earthquakes recorded in the National Capital Region may be related to extreme groundwater extraction for agriculture and human consumption.

Nit Rourkela and Bhaskar Kundu, one of the writers of the study, said, “Between 2003 and 2012, there was an increase in seismic activity when the water table was exhausted. Seismic activity decreased after 2014.” Hindu.

Managing extraction

When the groundwater is pumped out, the mass of water that protects the pressure under the ground is removed and the shocks are formed on the surface.

“The situation is not a great concern, because these earthquakes in the Delhi-NCR region are usually small, up to maximum 4.5 magnitude,” geobilimci and author CP Rajendran Rush World: The Story of Indian Earthquakes, in question. “It may go up to 5.5, which may have risks for a city with densely populated like Delhi.”

This is because Delhi is in various error lines and the region is in the 4 seismic risk category, ie an earthquake -prone area.

Dr. Rajendran, groundwater extraction caused by the risk of earthquake, water table falls into jumps, spread to the plains, he said. The reason for this is that the products planted in the region still need large amounts of water and very few thirst extinguishing with rainfall.

The authority added that there is a need to take into account the scientific management of groundwater extraction rate and charging and the seismic activity rate in the region.

In the past, human -induced earthquakes have devastated the lives and property caused by large dams that changed the water load on the surface. For example, on December 11, 1967, a 6.3 -magnitude earthquake in Koynanagar, a village in Maharashtra, caused significant damage. More than 180 people died and thousands of houses were destroyed. Several followers accused the disaster on the overloading of water in the nearby bay to the nearby bay hydroelectric dam.

Similarly, research, such as Delhi, has increased seismic activity around the Mullaperiyar Dam in Kerala.

Energy and Earthquakes

Vineet K. Gahaut, Chief Scientist of the National Geophysical Research Institute, said, “The US, which recorded reservoir earthquakes, applied arrangements about how quickly a dam should be filled and emptied. Such arrangements should be applied in India to prevent earthquakes. Hindu.

He also said that seismic activities in a region should be evaluated properly before a dam was built there.

Rajendran said, “large dams are not recommended in seismic active areas such as Himalayas because water load and filter can change the local stress regime,” he said.

India’s increasing energy demand increases the risk of such disaster.

“The methods used to meet our needs have significant risks in our oil or hydroelectric power,” Gahalaut said.

Dr. Ghalaut has been shown to be injected with liquids to the ground and allow oil and natural gas to break down rocks and allow oil and natural gas. India currently has 56 Fracking sites in six states.

Since 2018, a series of earthquakes in the Palghar region in Maharashtra experts, license plate deformation occurs in an isolated way, he said. The first findings of seismologists showed that the cause could be fluid migration due to rainfall.

Kundu said, “Strong seismic networks that use instruments in India in India, which have isolated plate deformation in order to monitor and monitor seismic activity more accurately, need to be installed.

Effect of Climate Change

Scientists said that climate change could indirectly affect the emergence of earthquakes and make them more frequent over time. Due to global warming, it was found that the melting of glaciers triggered earthquakes around Antarctica and Greenland. It is known that the changes in precipitation models due to climate change modulate the water loading process on the surface.

For example, sudden heavy rainfall can change the stress accumulated between tectonic plates and induce seismic activity. The area around the West Ghats’ Sahyadri range is therefore trembling due to heavy rainfall.

Gahalaut said, “Considering the rainfall rate, the height of the mountains should be reduced. However, the mountains maintained their heights due to seismic activity,” he said.

Dr. Rajendran said that rainfall patterns can also change changing soil chemistry and affect crop patterns and forced farmers to return to groundwater for irrigation, which could induce seismic activity.

Similarly, longer droughts can re -activate seismic errors. An earthquake due to such drought was recorded in California in 2014.

Kundu, “There is no earthquake risk in all places where groundwater exhaustion or large dams are located, they are only recorded in areas that are found in fault lines or facing plate deformation processes”.

Currently, it is not possible to determine the accumulation rate of the strain along the plates and the part of this stress caused by human activities. For this reason, experts warned against the conclusion that such activities will only be accused of tremor or earthquakes. Research has shown that these activities can postpone or accelerate the tectonic processes that cause these movements.

Published – 22 July 2025 05:30 IST