Researchers have traced the great Assam Earthquake to complex tectonics of the North Eastern fringe of the Indian Plate in the Eastern Himalaya and the Indo-Burma Ranges (IBR) and the interactions between the two, which can produce deeper earthquakes in IBR and crustal ones in the Eastern Himalaya.
- The Great Assam Earthquake (1950) is the largest intra-continental earthquake ever recorded, which was located at the India-China border near the Mishmi Hills of Arunachal Himalaya.
Key Highlights
- The north-eastern fringe of the Indian Plate in the Eastern Himalaya has been found to be seismically active up to about 40 km depth, while the seismicity in the Indo-Burma Ranges (IBR) is observed up to a depth of around 200 km.
- The Eastern Himalayan Syntaxis (EHS) or Tidding-Tuting Suture (TTSZ) in Arunachal Pradesh and bordering regions of Assam is acknowledged as one of the most seismically active regions in the world.
- The northeast corner of the Indian Plate in the EHS belongs to the seismic zone V of the national zoning map of India and does have a potential to trigger major earthquakes in the future.
- The study published in Tectonophysics Journal reveals that the TTSZ is seismically active up to around 40 km depth.
- In contrast, the seismicity in the Indo-Burma Ranges (IBR) is observed up to a depth of around 200 km suggesting the active subduction process of the Indian plate beneath the IBR.
- It suggests that the IBR is more susceptible to deeper earthquakes, while crustal-scale earthquakes are more likely to occur in the TTSZ.
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