Six earthquakes rock Assam within just two weeks!

STAFF REPORTER

GUWAHATI: Six earthquakes in the last two weeks have once again raised the question as whether Assam is heading towards a bigger earthquake in the near future.

The first tremor measuring 3.4 on the Richter Scale (RS) shook Assam and other parts of North East on November 1. The second and third tremor (4.4 & 3.5 in RS) was felt on November 3. The rest of tremors hit the State on November 8 (4.2 & 3.4 in RS) and November 14 (5.2 in RS).

Assam has been experiencing low to medium-intensity earthquakes at frequent intervals, leading to concern among people and experts in the seismically-active Northeast region. The development has caused concern among people and experts over the question whether earthquakes at frequent intervals hint about a bigger and stronger earthquake in the near future. Experts and geologists are, however, divided in their opinions.

A professor of geography at Cotton University said that frequent occurrence of earthquakes is not always an indicator of the possible occurrence of a bigger earthquake in the near future.

"Occurrence of earthquake is a means of releasing the stress that are accumulated deep inside the Earth because of the relative movement of the tectonic plates. Sometimes, frequent occurrences of small-scale earthquakes help to release the accumulated stress in phases that ultimately prevent the possible occurrence of an earthquake of the bigger scale," added the professor.

Also Read: Separate moderate earthquakes hit Assam on Friday