A fresh study by IIT Roorkee has revealed that four hill districts of Uttarakhand face a major landslide threat triggered by earthquakes, with Rudraprayag identified as the most vulnerable. The research, conducted by experts from the Institute’s Centre of Excellence in Disaster Mitigation and Management, was published in an international journal on August 2.
Researchers Akshat Vashisth, Shivani Joshi, and Srikrishna Siva Subramanyam highlighted that the Himalayan region is highly sensitive to seismic activity, where landslides are already frequent. They cautioned that earthquake-induced landslides could pose severe risks to Uttarakhand in the future.
For the first time, district-level zoning was carried out to assess the landslide hazard from earthquakes. The study analyzed multiple seismic intensity scenarios and earthquake return periods. Rudraprayag district ranked as the most sensitive in every scenario, followed by Pithoragarh, Chamoli, and Uttarkashi.
