Oldest Tsunami occurred in Jharkhand State of India more than 1,600 million years ago.

The scientists analyzed sedimentary rocks deposited in "Chaibasa Formation" in eastern India.
by
Dr. Nitish Priyadarshi

Scientists have found evidence that the oldest earthquake followed by tsunami traceable in the earth's history took place more than 1,600 million years ago in what is now Jharkhand.

An international team of scientists from India, Japan and Poland has reported the discovery in a paper of the journal 'Sedimentary Geology’ in year 2006.

This occurred long before the massive southern land mass called Gondwana land split up and the piece that now forms peninsular India floated north and crashed in the Asian land mass.

The scientists analyzed sedimentary rocks deposited in "Chaibasa Formation" in eastern India. "The layers show deformations that have never been described before," Rajat Mazumder, lead author and a Humboldt Fellow in the university of Munich told.

Mazumder and co-workers show that earthquakes caused the deformations "while the sediments were still being deposited and before their consolidation," they said.

The layers containing these deformation structures are termed "seismites" and the scientists could trace the deformed horizons up to a kilometer depth.

Considering their occurrence in sediments deposited between 1,600 and 2,100 million years ago, "they are among the earliest records of earthquakes known in the Earth's history," the scientists reported.

"One of the strongest arguments for earthquakes as triggers of the deformation is the occurrence of strongly deformed layers (sandwiched) between unaffected layers of similar grain size," they said. Another argument is the finding of "tabular depressions," the formation of which would have required a large block of sediment to move upwards and drift away.

According to the scientists a tsunami generated by an earthquake most likely detached a weakly consolidated silt/mud block and lifted and transported it away leaving behind a hole that gradually got filled by laminated sediment observed by them.

It is interesting to note that Chaibasa Formation is underlain by volcanic rocks which have been dated as 2100 million years old. In other words the sediments of Chaibasa Formation were being deposited in a basin affected by active volcanism. In such areas high intensity earthquakes do occur.



The high grade Chaibasa Formation is estimated to have 2-4 km of thickness and is traceable westward to the north of the Chakradharpur town South of Ranchi city. The character of the sediments in the Chaibasa Formation, the non-diastropic structures preserved in them, despite extensive but open folding and deformation, and the environment of deposition have received some attention. Deep to shallow marine turbidite environment, peritidal shallow marine environment or even a totally fluvial environment have been proposed. Perhaps more than one environment co exists in the region.

S.M. Mathur in1964 and K. Naha in 1956 are among the earliest geologist to suggest turbidite structures and a deep marine environment in the Ghatsila area. M.V.N. Murthy and Anand Alwar in 1966 recorded some 106 cycles of turbidite beds in a 3500 m thick arenaceous pelite sequence in the Subarnarekha river section north of Rakha mines. It is suspected that such cyclic turbidite sequence may be related to seismic phenomena. Sedimentation in the Singhbhum Mobile Belt is endowed with several features. Both tectonism related to lithospheric stretching and contemporaneous volcanism are reflected in the character of the sediments.

The Chotanagpur Plateau of Jharkhand State represents a part of the Indian Peninsular shield, which is a stable cratonic block of the earth’s crust. Though it is a part of the stable block it is being rocked by mild tremors.

Chotanagpur has faced lots of tremors and geological movements in the geological past and now it is assumed that the plateau is free from any type of tremors or cratonic movement. Evidences of the regional tectonic movement in the plateau area are preserved in the form of faulting, folding, joints etc in the rocks.

According to GSHAP (Global Seismic Hazard Assessment Program) data, the state of Jharkhand falls in a region of low to high seismic hazard . As per the 2002 Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) map, this state also falls in Zones II, III & IV. Historically, parts of this state have experienced seismic activity in the M 5.0 range.

Though being a stable zone, mild tremors struck Jharkhand Plateau on August 1999 for couple of seconds. Few years back too on July and 21st November 1997 Jharkhand Plateau was rocked by the tremors for few seconds. Due to lack of requisite equipment, the Ranchi Meteorological office was not in a position to say something about the intensity.

A tremor stronger than these had shaken Chotanagpur Plateau of Jharkhand on August 21, 1988 at 4.40 AM. The epicenters of the Earthquake was 525 km north west of Shillong ( Indo-Nepal border in Bihar state) and was measured 6.6 on the scale. The 1988 quake which lasted for few seconds was reported from Ranchi, Jamshedpur, Dhanbad and Daltongonj.

A mild earthquake struck the adjacent border regions of the districts of Latehar and Lohardagga, Jharkhand, on 21st March 2007 at 22:04 PM local time. It had a magnitude of M?= 3.3 ( M? is magnitude type unknown) and was felt in many parts of the Chota Nagpur Plateau causing minor damage. The earthquake was centred 81.9 kms NW of Ranchi (Jharkhand), India. Jamshedpur and its adjoining areas experienced at least four low-intensity tremors in the month of January, 2008. This year in month of January mild tremors were in felt in parts of Shaebganj, Pankur, Godda, Ranchi district etc.

From last couple of years Jharkhand has felt few tremors in different parts of the State of low intensity and unfortunately due to its localized occurrence its intensity was not recorded.

Is 2012 the end of the world?

Are we heading towards Lemuria or Mu type disaster?

by

Dr. Nitish Priyadarshi

Picture credit: http://www.officialcountdown2012.com

A lot of people are listening and worrying about the world coming to an end in 2012. Hollywood is unleashing a raft of movies about humanity tottering on the edge of extinction.

Is 2012 the end of the world? Humans are particularly good at spreading the bad news the reason why it spreads like wildfire. With regard to the predictions of 2012, we’re into the dessert part. No one has anything to present and we’re still swallowing the end of life like it’s on sale at Wal-Mart.
Solar experts from around the world monitoring the sun have claimed that our sun is in a bit of strife. The energy output of the sun is, like most things in nature, cyclic, and it's supposed to be in the middle of a period of relative stability. However, recent solar storms have been bombarding the Earth with so much radiation energy, it's been knocking out power grids and destroying satellites. This activity is predicted to get worse, and calculations suggest it'll reach its deadly peak sometime in 2012.

The other interesting theory is that scientists in Europe have been building the world's largest particle accelerator. Basically its a 27km tunnel designed to smash atoms together to find out what makes the Universe tick. However, the mega-gadget has caused serious concern, with some scientists suggesting that it's properly even a bad idea to turn it on in the first place. They're predicting all manner of deadly results, including mini black holes. So when this machine is fired up for its first serious experiment in 2012, the world could be crushed into a super-dense blob the size of a basketball.

Is our earth is really going to end in 2012? Lots of queries and questions are coming regarding what will happen in 2012. Will we survive? Or it is just a hoax. To me in nature there is no such off and on switching of disaster. All the past scientific and geological researches show the end of the earth cannot happen in few minutes or days. Even today if any asteroids or meteorites struck the earth, complete extinction may take the time of 100 to 1000 years.

Earth cannot be destroyed completely at one time. It may pass through different changes. Either in the form of climate changes, extinction of some old species or submergence of land in the sea due to sea level rise.

Earlier reports say that some old cities or civilizations submerged beneath the sea like Dwarka in India or the Atlantis civilization.

Dwarka is an important city for Hindu Pilgrimage. It was the fabled capital city of Lord Krishna. This "under sea city of Dwarka" lies in close proximity to near the present Dwarka temple in Saurashtra in India. According to archeologists this under-sea city was the real Dwarka where Lord Krishna lived.
According to ancient concept Dwarka submerged into the sea after Sri Krishna left for the heavenly abode. The search for the lost city of Dwarka began as early as in 1930's. Marine Archaeology Unit (MAU) of the National Institute of Oceanography took part in this search in 1983. The search was carried out in the coastal waters of Dwarka in Gujarat. The well-fortified township of Dwarka that extended more than half a mile from the shore was discovered from 1983 to 1990.

What will happen in 2012 no body knows. It’s only a speculations or imaginations based on some mythological concept and not scientific. Every religion talks about some disaster in the ancient past either in the form of floods or in the form of fire from the sky. But scientifically it is not proved.

What will happen if the earthquake of 8 magnitude or more on Richter scale takes place on the earth? It may bring destruction to the specific area. If it takes place beneath the ocean it may bring destruction to bigger area in the form of tsunami but not the complete earth.

Even if great volcanoes erupts it may have the effect on hundreds kilometer. Earth can only be destroyed completely when all events like major earthquakes, volcanoes, shifting of magnetic poles, impact of asteroids or meteorites takes place at the same time in different parts of the earth. Which I am sure is not going to happen.

OK if we are bound to imagine that in year 2012 something is going to happen then what will be the outcome? We can say that the lands may be submerged in the sea either due to Tsunamis or due to the impact of some big object from the outer space. If we believe on the earlier researches there were two imaginary continents which are now under the sea waves. Researchers claim that they vanished due to some natural disasters.

We have all heard about the imaginary islands of Lemuria and Mu which according to different researchers and thinkers are now under the sea.

Researchers say that these islands were submerged in the ocean due to sudden disaster. If something is really going to happen in 2012 are we heading towards the future similar to that of Lemuria or Mu.

Atlantis is by no means the only submerged continent to attract the attention of archaeologists, scientists and historians. Of the remainder the two most important arte Mu (on the bed of the Pacific ocean) and Lemuria, beneath the Indian Ocean. There is also the lost land of Pan below the north Pacific, which antedated Mu over 20,000 years, while Mu itself existed 50,000 years ago. The origins of Lemuria apparently go back 100,000 years or more. All ( as in the case of Atlantis) are claimed to be the original birth place of man, though this clearly cannot be so.

Atlantis has been described as the greatest of all historical mysteries. Plato, writing about 350 BC, was the first to speak of the great island in the Atlantic ocean which had vanished “in a day and a night”, and been submerged beneath the wave of the Atlantic.

The exact location of Lemuria varies with different researchers and authors. Wherever you believe the location of Lemuria to be, it is linked with the Ring of Fire. Researchers claim that this area has become active with Tsunami in December 26, 2004, powerful earthquakes and volacanoes that continue, after being dormant for many years. It would seem that the legends of ancient Lemuria speak to us once again with warning signs- as they supposedly did to the Lemurians- before the continent-or group of islands-fell into the sea.

Mu is supposedly a continent that sink in the Pacific Ocean, rather than the Atlantic. The British archaeologist James Churchward made this claim in 1926. In his report he described a country with a far superior culture that had disappeared together with its continent in the aftermath of volcanic eruption.

Even if something related to the concept of 2012 is going to happen we are sure that it is going to affect only small part of the earth and not the whole planet.

It is also true that nothing natural will destroy the earth. It is we human who will be responsible for the destruction of our mother planet, either in the form of nuclear explosion, carbon dioxide emission or other green house gases emission.

Can animals predict earthquakes?

Most animals show increased restlessness before an earthquake.

Govindpur in Jharkhand animals were nervous before earthquake.

by

Dr. Nitish Priyadarshi

Picture credit: animalsandearthquakes.com/etho-g5.gif
In order to reduce the risk of an earthquake and reduce and mitigate its effects, it is necessary to predict where and when a future, large earthquake may occur. For example, it would be important to know when such an earthquake will hit, where it will strike, and what the level of its destructiveness may be. Earthquake prediction at the present time is not an exact science, and forecasts of earthquake occurrences have not been very accurate. Presently predictions are given in statistical terms. For example, when a prediction is made that :here is a 90% chance that an earthquake will occur in the next 50 years", it does not mean that this earthquake cannot happen tomorrow or it may not be delayed by 50 years. Thus, present predictions are not within a reasonable time frame that can be of usefulness to planners, policy makers, and those in government that deal with public safety.

Unusual behaviour of animals prior to earthquakes received wide publicity after the Haichang earthquake of February 4, 1975 was successfully predicted in China. The official report was presented by the Chinese delegation at the Inter-governmental meeting convened at UNESCO, Paris in February 1976 which stimulated considerable scientific interest. Prior to this, however, several instances of abnormal animal behaviour were noticed before occurrence of some of the damaging earthquakes in different parts of the world, but they were considered more as historical legend. In Japan, innumerable rats were seen every day in a restaurant in Nagoya city, which suddenly disappeared on the evening prior to the Nobi earthquake of 1891.
Since the beginning of recorded history, observations of unusual animal behavior before earthquakes have been recorded by people from almost all civilizations. The animal behavior reports are often ambiguous and not consistently observed. In folklore, some animals have had more reports of being able to predict earthquakes than others, especially dogs, cats, chickens, horses, and other smaller animals. There have been reports with elephants, as well. Goats, cows, and most larger animals are generally reported as being less able to predict earthquakes.

In 1920, the largest earthquake to hit China with a magnitude of 8.5 occurred in Haiyuan County, Ninghxia Province. According to reports of eyewitnesses, prior to this earthquake, wolves were seen running around in packs, dogs were barking unusually, and sparrows were flying around wildly. It is reported that prior to the 6.8 magnitude earthquake in 1966 in Hsingtai County, Hopei Province, in Northern China, all the dogs at a village near the epicenter had deserted their kennels and thus survived the disaster.

The earliest reference we have to unusual animal behavior prior to a significant earthquake is from Greece in 373 BC.

As early as 1886, a seismologist named Milne had mentioned that dogs escaped from the city of Talcahuano in Chile before an earthquake (1835). Flocks of birds flew inland before the Chilean earthquakes of 1822 and 1835. Monkeys were reported to have become restless a few hours before the Managua earthquake (1972) in Nicaragua. In the Tientsin region of China, chickens refused to enter their dens, tigers became restless, yaks declined to eat and horses and sheep started running restlessly a few hours before the earthquakes of July 18, 1969. Hens and cocks were reported restless about an hour prior to the 1896 Ryukyu earthquake in Japan. In Yugoslavia, birds in zoo started crying before the 1963 earthquake. Deer gathered and cats disappeared from villages in northern Italy two or three hours before a damaging earthquake occurred in 1976. Such observations have also been noticed among animals who live underground, like snakes, insects and worms, and those living in water (fishes).

In Japan, fishes were reported to have disappeared before the Kanto earthquakes of 1923. Just before the 1855 Edo earthquake on November 11, many grass snakes were reported to have come out of the ground near the epicentral area, despite severe cold. Other instances involving fishes have been reported in Japan near north-western coast before the 1896 earthquake and the Tango earthquake of 1927 when abundant fishes were caught near the coast.

An interesting instance of unusual behaviour of dogs (but not of other animals) was reported before the destructive earthquake on November 24, 1976 in Turkey (Toksoz,1979).

Although several destructive earthquakes have occurred in the Himalayan region and elsewhere only one authentic observation of unusual animal behaviour was reported in India. In Govindpur in Jharkhand state of India, on February 19, 1892, animals were noticed to sniff the ground and exhibit nervousness such as dog shows in the presence of an unaccustomed object, while the air had distinctly sulphurous smell an hour before the shock.

During the recent damaging earthquakes in India of Uttarkashi (1991), Latur (1993), Jabalpur (1997), Chamoli (1999) and Bhuj (2001), there were reports of isolated cases of unusual behaviour of pet dogs, but the phenomenon was not observed on a large scale. According to the Chief conservator of forests for the Indian state of Tamil Nadu, a few minutes before the killer tsunami waves generated by an underwater earthquake hit the Indian coastline in December 2004, a herd of 500 blackbucks rushed away from the coastal areas to the safety of a nearby hilltop.

The Group of Earthquakes Research of the Institute of Biophysics, China (1979) carried extensive survey of the animal behaviour before damaging earthquakes occur. Its results are summarized below.
1. Most animals show increased restlessness before an earthquake.
2. The precursor time varies from a few minutes to several days, with increased restlessness at 11 hours which becomes still more marked about 2 to 3 hours before the earthquake. In general, the precursor times of various animals are mostly within 24 hours before the earthquake.
3. These observations have been noticed predominantly in the high intensity or epicentral regions close to active faults.
4. Changes in animal behaviour are observed during earth- quakes of magnitude 5 or more.
5. More intense responses can be noticed with the increase of intensity of earthquakes.

We can easily explain the cause of unusual animal behavior seconds before humans feel an earthquake. Very few humans notice the smaller P wave that travels the fastest from the earthquake source and arrives before the larger S wave. But many animals with more keen senses are able to feel the P wave seconds before the S wave arrives. As for sensing an impending earthquake days or weeks before it occurs, that's a different story.
There is little evidence for animals being able to sense earthquakes before they happen, although it is likely they can sense the initial, weaker P-wave or ultrasonic wave generated by a big underground explosion or the rupture of an earthquake, even if the waves are too small for humans' senses. These waves travel faster than the S-wave and Rayleigh earthquake waves that most strongly shake the ground and causes the most damage. It is speculated that when this happens, animals can detect the incoming earthquake wave, and start behaving agitatedly or nervously.

Others postulate that the animal behavior is simply their response to an increase in low-frequency electromagnetic signals. The University of Colorado has demonstrated that electromagnetic activity can be generated by the fracturing of crystalline rock. Such activity occurs in fault lines before earthquakes. According to one study, electromagnetic sensors yield statistically valid results in predicting earthquakes.

Accounts of similar animal anticipation of earthquakes have surfaced across the centuries since. Catfish moving violently, chickens that stop laying eggs and bees leaving their hive in a panic have been reported. Countless pet owners claimed to have witnessed their cats and dogs acting strangely before the ground shook—barking or whining for no apparent reason, or showing signs of nervousness and restlessness.

But precisely what animals sense, if they feel anything at all, is a mystery. One theory is that wild and domestic creatures feel the Earth vibrate before humans. Other ideas suggest they detect electrical changes in the air or gas released from the Earth.

Geologists, however, dismiss these kinds of reports, saying it's "the psychological focusing effect," where people remember strange behaviors only after an earthquake or other catastrophe has taken place. If nothing had happened, they contend, people would not have remembered the strange behavior.

Reference:

Srivastava, H.N., 1983.Earthquakes. National Book Trust, India.

Toksoz, M.N. 1979. Field investigations of the 24 November 1976 earthquakes in Turkey and its precursors. Int. Symp. Eathq. Pred. (UNESCO, Paris), Abstracts.

http://www.drgeorgepc.com/EarthquakePredictionChina.html
http://earthquake.usgs.gov/learn/topics/animal_eqs.php
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2003/11/1111_031111_earthquakeanimals.html

Tremor felt in stable parts of Jharkhand State of India.

Tremor in Jamshedpur and Chaibasa

by

Dr. Nitish Priyadarshi

Inspite being a part of the stable block, Jharkhand State of India is being rocked by mild to medium tremors. Fresh incidence of earthquake took place on Thursday morning (26th March,2009) when mild tremor was felt in the area of Jamshedpur and Chaibasa.
The tremor which was measured 3.8 on the Richter scale, hit the region at 10.14 am and lasted about 2 to 3 seconds, said local Meteorological Department in the Ranchi.
According to the Meteorological office the epicenter was recorded at 22.6 degree North latitude and 85.7 degree East latitude. Area is near to Jharkhand and Orissa border.
Five college students and a teacher were injured in Chaibasa town due to “stampede like situation” when they trying to rush out of the college building.
Jamshedpur and its adjoining areas experienced at least four low-intensity tremors in the month of January, 2008.
From last several years many parts of Jharkhand is facing mild to moderate tremors. According to the author there are possibilities that construction of large water dams, water reservoirs, different types of mining and increasing use of groundwater (which is creating vacuum inside the earth) in and around Jharkhand are major reason why these earthquakes are occurring at such frequent intervals.
Present epicenter is very near to mining areas of Iron ore. Though stress and strain developing on the rocks can also be considered as the major cause of the earthquakes.

Jharkhand has faced lots of tremors and geological movements in the geological past and now it is assumed that the plateau is free from any type of tremors or cratonic movement. Evidences of the regional tectonic movement in the plateau area are preserved in the form of faulting, folding, joints etc in the rocks.

Scientists have found evidence that the oldest earthquake followed by tsunami traceable in the earth's history took place more than 1,600 million years ago in what is now Jharkhand. An international team of scientists from India, Japan and Poland has reported the discovery in a paper to appear in the forthcoming issue of the journal 'Sedimentary Geology.' This occurred long before the massive southern land mass called Gondwana land split up and the piece that now forms peninsular India floated north and crashed in the Asian land mass.

Regarding the type of earthquakes occurring in State it may be placed under “Shallow Earthquakes” ("Crustal" quakes) which are caused by faults in the continental plates, as a result from the relative motion of sections of the plates. They are usually 1 to 5 magnitude, less than 15 miles deep, occur random and unpredictable and most of them are not even felt.

Mild tremors struck Jharkhand Plateau on August 1999 for couple of seconds. Few years back too on July and 21st November 1997 Jharkhand Plateau was rocked by the tremors for few seconds. Due to lack of requisite equipment, the Ranchi Meteorological office was not in a position to say something about the intensity. A tremor stronger than these had shaken Chotanagpur Plateau of Jharkhand on August 21, 1988 at 4.40 AM. The epicenters of the Earthquake was 525 km north west of Shillong ( Indo-Nepal border in Bihar state) and was measured 6.6 on the scale. The 1988 quake which lasted for few seconds was reported from Ranchi, Jamshedpur, Dhanbad and Daltongonj. At Ranchi all windows started rattling. Movements of cots was similar to that in a running train.
There was also commotion among birds, and cracks developed in the walls of some houses. Such high intensity earthquake in the Jharkhand State was unnatural. This plateau is peninsular and dead for any crustal adjustment. The high intensity of earthquake in Dharbanga in Bihar State, might have sent tremors to the Jharkhand. One probable cause of the relative strength of shock in Jharkhand, might be transmissibility of the tremors through crystalline rigid and strong crust underlying the Himalayas, the Indo- Gangetic depression, Monghyr region and Jharkhand. The characteristic and consequences of the earthquake of 1988 were similar to those of the shock of January 15, 1934.

Reference:
Rajat Mazumder, A.J. (Tom) van Loon and Makoto Arima (2006)Sedimentary Geology, Volume 186, Issues 1-2, Pages 19-26

Mahadevan, T.M., 2002. Geology of Bihar & Jharkhand. Geological Society of India, Bangalore.

Times of India, March 27, 2009, Ranchi edition.

Earthquake Is Caused By The Rising of Land, Not Drifting of Land.

The Islands of Indonesia are continuously rising
Soon after Tsunami, which killed more than two and a half lakhs of people and had originated from the island, Sumatra, it was found out that, after the earthquake the north western part of the island simeulue, which was in that region had risen about three feet high above sea level. On account of this, a new shore had formed on the north western part of the island. In addition to that; the sea sponges which were on the sea bed were visible above the sea level!
Three months after the earthquake on 26th December, 2004, another quake occurred on 28th March 2005 after which simeulue was found to be four feet above sea level. Apart from this, for an area of about three hundred kilometers, sea sponges which are normally found below the sea could be seen from all visible areas!
Why did the island rise four feet above sea level ?
As the molten rock keeps cooling gradually, the rocky plates that are formed at different levels are of less thickness and density and they keep rising continuously.The main reason is that, when the molten rock cools, the water and hot gases get released and the rocky plates that are formed are of lesser thickness than the magma in which they formed. Water has a higher density and the ice cubes formed from it have a lower density and they tend to float on water Likewise, the molten rock material which has a higher density produces rocky plates which have a lower density and these move above sea level and form islands.When new plates are produced by the molten rock material, they start moving upwards thereby pushing the plates which were already formed. The plates suddenly start rising upwards due to intense pressure.Similar to the ripples that are formed and expanded when a plate of water is hit at the centre from below with a finger, when the island simeulue, which was found in the central part of the Indian Ocean suddenly rose up, the water was pushed aside in all directions and only this resulted in Tsunami.
The frequent occurrences of earthquakes and Tsunami in Indonesia are only due to the sudden rising of the islands.

But, the geologists have come up with a different explanation for the earthquakes which occur there. They say that, about six and a half crores of years ago, India was an island on the southern part of the equator. It moved slowly towards north and collided with Asia about five crores of years ago and it is still continuing its movement. The geologists also opine that due to this movement, when the indo-Australian plate suddenly went below the Burmese plate on December 26th, 2004, an earthquake occurred. There is no truth in what they say because even six and a half crores of years ago India had been part of Asia in the same place as it is found now.The fossils of mammals which lived in Asia six and a half years ago have been excavated in the form of bones by Professor Ashok Sahani of Punjab University and Professor G.V.R. Prasad of Jammu University in the village of Naskal at Andhra Pradesh and they prove that the above statement is true. So, as per the researchers’ opinion, India had not been an island on the southern part of the equator about six and a half crores of years agoSo, it is proved that even six and a half crores of years ago India had been part of Asia in the same place as it is found now and is not moving in the north eastern direction. Therefore the indo-Australian plate did not go suddenly below the Burmese plate. So the earth quakes on 26 -12 -2004 and 28 – 3 -2005 and the Tsunami are only the result of the rising of the island, simeulue, above its original level.
Subject: Rising of the earth’s crust is responsible for producing earthquakes, Submission of report for publishing.
Earthquake is caused due to the movement of the land is a myth.
The most important thing that is missing in this view is that there is no explanation for why earthquake occurs in the centre of the land instead of the peripheral area. Actually the land is rising in different places. This is the reason why earthquakes occur only in the central parts of the land. To be specific, after an earthquake occurred on September 30th of 1993, in the village named Killari, it was found that the land had risen about three feet in height. This shows that the rise of the land is the cause of the earthquake.
‘Reasons for the Rise of the Earth’s Crust’
Earthquake is the effect of the rise of the land.
On September 30th 1993, the earthquake that hit the village, killari, situated in central part of India resulted in the death of more than eight thousand people and raised the land surface about three feet high. This elevation was seen in an area of around two kilometers.
Why did the earthquake occur?
The quake occurred only in killari, situated in central India and left two kilometers of land area raised. This proves that the earthquake occurred only due to the rise of the land.Apart from this, the pictures taken by the satellite before the quake showed that the temperature of killari had also risen and the pictures taken after the quake showed it to be normal. After the earthquake occurred, on the borders of Andhra and Karnataka white colored smoke emitted from the ground.
Why did the land rise? Why was the temperature more? Why did the land emit white colored smoke?

We know that the molten rock material called magma is found inside the earth as we have seen it coming out through volcanoes. In the same way, when the molten rock, lava flows on the earth’s surface, we can see the condensed steam and other gases in the form of white colored smoke.As the water and other hot gases are eliminated as steam, the molten rock cools down and turned in to rock. In the same way when the molten rock inside the earth starts cooling, water and Other hot gases come out in the form of white smoke. Due to this, the temperature of the land rises.Moreover when the molten rock cools and as the water and hot gases get released, the rocky plates that are formed are of less thickness. For example: water has a higher density and the ice cubes formed from it have a lower density and float on water. Likewise, the molten rock material which has a higher density produces rocky plates which have a lower density and move above the level of the molten rock. In the same way, when new plates are produced by the molten rock material, they start moving upwards there by pushing the plates which were already formed. On account of this movement, the edges of the plates rub against each other thereby causing earthquakes.For example, in 1356 an earthquake occurred in the city Basel in Switzerland which is situated in central Europe. In the same city, an organization which produces electricity using the heat from underground, drilled two holes of five meters each on the earth in the year 2006.The project was to send cold water through the first hole which would be changed into steam using the heat of the molten rock and pushed out through the second hole and by rotating dynamos; this would be converted into electricity. But, on the eighth day after the water was sent inside the earth, in the same place, the Richter scale recorded an earthquake with an intensity of 3.4. Even if atom bombs are tested underground, earthquakes do not occur. How could the water which seeped inside produce an earthquake? This clearly shows that the water which seeped inside the earth cooled the molten rock which in turn formed new plates that rose up and caused the earthquake.
Volcanic activity in central Europe.
Vogtland, which is situated in central Europe , had often been experiencing a number of minor earthquakes.In the same place, a researcher by the name Dr,Karin brauer collected the bubbles which came out along with an underground spring in a marshy area and through his research, found out that gases were emitted from a volcano. Based on his research, he says that when the molten rock rises, the pressure of the gases increases and this results in the formation of cracks on rocks which may ultimately result in earthquakes.But for millions of years in the past, these gases have been coming out of the earth. Apart from this, there are spaces for these gases to be eliminated. We have already seen this fact and the gases do not have enough pressure to bring about an earthquake.A few years ago from the mountainous part of Nilgiris in India , smoke were seen emanating from earth, but fortunately no earthquake was caused. Likewise, Matsushiro in central Japan also experienced a number of mild quakes. To find out the reason for these quakes, a researcher by the name yoshida collected Water from the hot water springs found there and through experimentation discovered that the water was from the molten rock found underground.So, she surmises that,” The water which is underground comes out with great pressure and this produces cracks on the rocky plates and this results in earthquakes”. But, the water and gases which are underground have been surfacing through the spaces found between the rocky plates for millions of years in the past. So, the reason for the continuous tremors and the elevation of land is only due to the slow rising of the rocky plates.
For example Wyoming found in central part of North America has more than three hundred hot water springs.
Due to the deposit of sulphur from the water, the rocks in that area appear yellowish in colour. So, the area of hot water springs is referred to as yellow Stone Park . Each year that place experiences about two thousand mild tremors. Between January, 2008 and March 2008, 287 tremors have rocked the place. Moreover it has been found out through satellite research that the land area of 60 miles is continuously raising. To be specific, starting from 2004 till 2006, the land area has been rising at the rate of 2.8 inches every year and has risen to a height of seven inches in three years. It is still rising.But research scholars say that, it is only the effect of the expansion of the molten rock due to heat.
But the surfacing of the water only shows that the molten rock is cooling.
So the release of water and the gases from the molten rock cools the molten rock. This results in the formation of new plates and the rising in the land level in the central part of the continents and results in tremors in those areas only.
There will be an earthquake tomorrow.
One week before an earthquake struck the city of haicheng on 30th February, 1975, on the north eastern part of China , it was officially announced that a quake would strike the city.People abandoned their houses and assembled in an open area in the snow fall. For one week nobody did any work. As announced there was an earthquake of 7.3 magnitudes which was recorded on the Richter scale.Two thousand and thirteen people lost their lives. It was estimated that if precaution had not been taken, the death toll would have exceeded one and a half lakhs! The whole world looked at China with surprise and when asked, they said that for the past one year slight tremors were occurring and they were gradually getting intensified. They also explained that, during the previous week there was tremendous change in the underground water table.But, in the next year, the earthquake which struck the city of Tang Shan situated in the north eastern part of China killed two and a half lakhs of people and severely wounded more than one and a half lakhs of people.The Chinese geologists said that on this occasion there were no preceding tremors. During the earthquake in haicheng, sulphur gas and in Tang Shan carbon-di-oxide were eliminated from underground. Regarding this incident, Carol Raymond is a geophysicist at NASA's, said “Only if we know how an earthquake is caused, we can warn about it in advance”.
How Does an Earthquake occur?
When the rocky plates under the ground rise and their edges rub with each other, an earthquake is caused. Moreover, the water and the gases found between them are under great pressure when these plates rise and so come above the surface of the earth.Hence, it is understood that the hot gases and water which come out of the earth and the temperature changes are the most authentic warnings of an approaching earthquake. So, by closely and continuously monitoring the temperature changes through satellite observations and finding out the depth and temperature in which the molten rock is found in a particular place, the occurrence of an earthquake can be predicted in advance. Based on it, if precautions are taken, great loss to human life can be prevented.
Continents are not drifting, but rising...
In 1835, when scientist Charles Darwin came to Galapagos Island which is located at Pacific Ocean, thousand km far away from South America , he found giant tortoises. He was surprised to see the presence of the tortoise because each one would weigh around 250 kilo, which look like a rock and those tortoises couldn’t float in the sea even for a second.According to the researchers, these tortoises might come from South America by floating by means of tree branches for two weeks when storm hit. But the tree branches can not float in the same dimension and it will roll and flow. Meantime, these tortoises have no fingers in their legs like elephants. And so, it is not possible for these animals to escape from falling in to the river, when the tree branches roll and flow... It is interrogated such as how this animal could survive for two week with out any food and water. The researchers explained that these animals have the ability to store the enormous fats and water in their body. So they manage to live for two week with out having any food and water.Moreover, Trevor worth, one of the researchers, has taken the jaw and leg bones of a rat like animal which lived 10 million years ago in the New Zealand , An island which situated two thousand kilometers far away from Australia continent. This animal has a bulged structure on the upper part of the leg bone. So it is found that its locomotion was hopping like kangaroo. Therefore it is impossible for the animal to reach the island by floating tree branches, According to Michael archer, a paleontology researcher.The researchers said that the tortoises had taken two weeks to reach the Galapagos Island , a thousand kilometer away from South America , by means of floating tree branches. Similarly, it would take at least four weeks far the rat to arrive New Zealand by means of floating tree branches, which is located two thousand kilometer away from Australia .Could a small animal like rat live for a long period with out having any food and water? Then how the animal reached New Zealand ? Hear the only possibility is extreme low sea level and exposed land connection, on which the animal migration took place, to reach Remote Island From the Australian continent. Moreover dinosaur’s bones were also found in the island called Chatham which is located near the New Zealand . Indicate the dinosaur’s migration also took place between the continents due to the low sea level of ten thousand feet.But the presence of closely related dinosaur’s bones on different continents leads to think other researchers differently. They think that all the continents were once jointly present and later separated and drifting apart. But the ancient low sea level of ten thousand feet is the only possible reason for the spreading of ancient animals on other continents.At the same time the presence of fossils of sea animals such as whales and ammonites indicates that all the continents were once lie under the sea and later rose above sea level. And this rising of land masses caused the earthquake.
Contributing Writer Scientist, G. Ponmudi. Chennai I am working as a junior assistant in the health department. And my qualification is Bsc (zoology). I have been working on earthquake research for the past five years. g.ponmudi@yahoo.com

LIGHTNING KILLING PEOPLE IN JHARKHAND STATE OF INDIA.

LIGHTNING KILLING PEOPLE IN JHARKHAND STATE OF INDIA
By
Dr. Nitish Priyadarshi

The weather gods, it seems, have crushed Jharkhand. If heat stroke was not enough, then lightning has emerged as a big killer as in the state. More than 200 people were killed because of lightning strikes in 2007. One incident occurred in the school premises near Ranchi city where six children were killed due to lightning. This year the toll is already more than 20.
In last two days seven people died due to lightning in Dumka and Jamshedpur district.

While the state government is perturbed, people get mortally scared when discharged electricity. Unlike heat waves which is more severe during summer, lightning strikes have taken place at alarming regularity in almost all parts of the state.

Mainly high elevated places are prone to lightning in Jharkhand. The plateau region of Jharkhand contains high amount of Iron stone in the rocks and soils. According to the recent studies lightning has been used as a naturally occurring instrument for studying the electrical nature of the ground. There have been numerous ancient observations based on these studies, however “few modern studies exist to indicate that soils of high conductivity (e.g. marshes) are lightning-prone; that ironstone outcrops attract lightning.
In Jharkhand forest areas are more prone to lightning. Trees are frequent conductors of lightning to the ground. Since sap is a poor conductor, its electrical resistance causes it to be heated explosively into steam, which blows off the bark outside the lightning's path.

From past several years the climate of Jharkhand has changed a lot from bad to worse. Ranchi which was earlier the summer capital of the Bihar and Jharkhand state united, is now under the impact of global warming or say regional warming. One of the major cause of global warming is carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. Models have been developed that predict atmospheric increases in CO2. One such model predicts that a doubling of CO2could increase the amount of lightning occurrences by 30–77% .
The number of lightning deaths in the state has almost doubled in the past several years. Add to this the hundreds who sustain injuries and the loss of cattle and property annually. And, you would know why panic sets in when people in Jharkhand see the magnificent flashes with thundering sounds on the sky.

As floods ,earthquakes, cyclone, drought, hailstorms, tsunami figure in the list of natural calamities in India, lightning should also be included in the list.

Earthquakes becoming more frequent in Jharkhand State of India.

Earthquakes becoming more frequent in Jharkhand State.

Dr. Nitish Priyadarshi
Department of Geology
Ranchi University
Ranchi-834001


Introduction:
PHYSIOGRAPHICALLY and tectonically, India can be divided into three broad ones: Peninsular India, Indo-Gangetic plains and the Extra-peninsular India (Himalayas).
The peninsular India comprises shield elements which are supposed to be geologically stable. But earthquakes of Jabalpur and Latur have shown that the shield areas are also prone to earthquakes.

The Chotanagpur Plateau of Jharkhand State represents a part of the Indian Peninsular shield, which is a stable cratonic block of the earth’s crust. Though it is a part of the stable block it is being rocked by mild to medium tremors.
Chotanagpur has faced lots of tremors and geological movements in the geological past and now it is assumed that the plateau is free from any type of tremors or cratonic movement. Evidences of the regional tectonic movement in the plateau area are preserved in the form of faulting, folding, joints etc in the rocks.
Present topographic features of Chotanagpur are clue to the past, and geographers and geologists think that before Himalayan movement started in Tertiary times Chotanagpur and adjoining areas were a low peneplain. As a side effect of the violent Himalayan movements, parts of Peninsular upland in general and Chotanagpur peneplain in particular began to be successively uplifted. The Himalayan movements occurred three times during Early and Late Tertiary and Pleistocene times and probably the Chotanagpur peneplain was also concurrently subjected to three successive uplifts. The line of this block uplift is marked by the steep scarps that surround the Ranchi and upper Hazaribagh plateaus and across which streams descend by well-known waterfalls, e.g. Hundru and Hirni waterfalls.
Damodar valley coalfields have been affected by two phases of fold tectonics. It has been suggested that the major faults and joints present in Damodar Valley coalfield, were formed by block-tectonics, possibly during Tertiary period.

Scientists have found evidence that the oldest earthquake followed by tsunami traceable in the earth's history took place more than 1,600 million years ago in what is now Jharkhand. An international team of scientists from India, Japan and Poland has reported the discovery in a paper to appear in the forthcoming issue of the journal 'Sedimentary Geology.' This occurred long before the massive southern land mass called Gondwana land split up and the piece that now forms peninsular India floated north and crashed in the Asian land mass. The scientists analyzed sedimentary rocks deposited in "Chaibasa Formation" in eastern India. "The layers show deformations that have never been described before," Rajat Mazumder, lead author and currently a Humboldt Fellow in the university of Munich told. Mazumder and co-workers show that earthquakes caused the deformations "while the sediments were still being deposited and before their consolidation," they said. The layers containing these deformation structures are termed "seismites" and the scientists could trace the deformed horizons up to a kilometer depth. Considering their occurrence in sediments deposited between 1,600 and 2,100 million years ago, "they are among the earliest records of earthquakes known in the Earth's history," the scientists reported. "One of the strongest arguments for earthquakes as triggers of the deformation is the occurrence of strongly deformed layers (sandwiched) between unaffected layers of similar grain size," they said. Another argument is the finding of "tabular depressions," the formation of which would have required a large block of sediment to move upwards and drift away. According to the scientists a tsunami generated by an earthquake most likely detached a weakly consolidated silt/mud block and lifted and transported it away leaving behind a hole that gradually got filled by laminated sediment observed by them.

It is interesting to note that Chaibasa Formation is underlain by volcanic rocks which have been dated as 2100 million years old. In other words the sediments of Chaibasa Formation were being deposited in a basin affected by active volcanism. In such areas high intensity earthquakes do occur.
Though "deformation structures" in sedimentary rocks have been observed before, the authors say that in their opinion, those found in eastern India "represent the oldest unambiguous "seismites" that are known from the Earth's history."

Fig: Tectonic map of East Singhbhum

According to GSHAP (Global Seismic Hazard Assessment Program) data, the state of Jharkhand falls in a region of low to high seismic hazard . As per the 2002 Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) map, this state also falls in Zones II, III & IV. Historically, parts of this state have experienced seismic activity in the M 5.0 range.
Hazard Map of Jharkhand
Significant earthquakes in Jharkhand and its possible causes:

Mild tremors struck Jharkhand Plateau on August 1999 for couple of seconds. Few years back too on July and 21st November 1997 Jharkhand Plateau was rocked by the tremors for few seconds. Due to lack of requisite equipment, the Ranchi Meteorological office was not in a position to say something about the intensity. A tremor stronger than these had shaken Chotanagpur Plateau of Jharkhand on August 21, 1988 at 4.40 AM. The epicenters of the Earthquake was 525 km north west of Shillong ( Indo-Nepal border in Bihar state) and was measured 6.6 on the scale. The 1988 quake which lasted for few seconds was reported from Ranchi, Jamshedpur, Dhanbad and Daltongonj. At Ranchi all windows started rattling. Movements of cots was similar to that in a running train. There was also commotion among birds, and cracks developed in the walls of some houses. Such high intensity earthquake in the Jharkhand State was unnatural. This plateau is peninsular and dead for any crustal adjustment. The high intensity of earthquake in Dharbanga in Bihar State, might have sent tremors to the Jharkhand. One probable cause of the relative strength of shock in Jharkhand, might be transmissibility of the tremors through crystalline rigid and strong crust underlying the Himalayas, the Indo- Gangetic depression, Monghyr region and Jharkhand. The characteristic and consequences of the earthquake of 1988 were similar to those of the shock of January 15, 1934.
The northern Bihar plain falls in the seismic zone of India and is liable to severe earth-quakes as on 15th January 1934.
Due to the devastating Sumatra Earthquake of 26th December 2004 with a magnitude Mw 9.3 Seiches(A seiche is a standing wave in an enclosed or partially enclosed body of water)occurred in the Jharkhand State. Even the Ranchi city felt the tremor.

A mild earthquake struck the adjacent border regions of the districts of Latehar and Lohardagga, Jharkhand, on 21st March 2007 at 22:04 PM local time. It had a magnitude of M?= 3.3 ( M? is magnitude type unknown) and was felt in many parts of the Chota Nagpur Plateau causing minor damage. The earthquake was centred 81.9 kms NW of Ranchi (Jharkhand), India. Tremors were felt strongly at Kuru in Latehar district and woke up many people who were asleep. A few people were reportedly “thrown of” their beds. In parts of Lohardaga district it was experienced for a duration of 5-seconds. Doors and windows rattled under the impact of the tremor and people went outdoors. In Lohardaga cracks developed in the walls of the hostel and other buildings of the Ursuline Woman’s Teacher’s Training College and many windows panes cracked. The strongest tremors were felt in northern parts of Lohardaga town. Houses were shaken at Brahani and Sikni in the Chandwa area of Latehar district. It was also felt for 10-12 seconds at Balumath, Chandwa & Latehar in Latehar district. Here, it was accompanied by the sound of a train and loose objects rattled. A 5-foot crack is thought to have developed outside a house in Chandwa. Elsewhere in the district it was felt at Barwadih, Garu, Mahuadanr and Manika. Many people spent the night outdoors fearing a stronger earthquake would follow. At Chatra, in the district of the same name, people heard doors & windows as well as household articles rattling. Light tremors were felt as far as at Gumla & Sisai in Gumla district, at Bhurkunda (including PTPS), Patratu in Hazaribagh district, Khilari, Mandar & Ranchi in Ranchi district. No damage or injuries have been reported as a result of this earthquake.Rumours of another stronger earthquake at 2 A.M. the following morning resulted in widespread panic in the region. Many people spent the entire night outdoors in the aforementioned areas. In Ranchi, patients were brought out of the hospitals and elsewhere in the region announcements were made from mosques to alert people. Panic spread in areas of adjoining districts, including those that did not experience such as Bhawanathpur, Bishnupur (Gumla), Daltonganj (Palamau), Jhumri Telaiya (Hazaribagh), Hazaribagh, Ramgarh Cantonment and Simdega.

Jamshedpur and its adjoining areas experienced at least four low-intensity tremors in the month of January, 2008. According to the different experts the tremors could well be due to the heavy rainfall that occurred last year 2007. Rain water percolating into the soil may have provided a cushion for the smaller plates to move causing earthquakes.

Huge downpours of rain can trigger earthquakes in landscapes riddled with caves and channels by increasing pressure within underlying rock, suggests a new study.
It was already known that rainfall could cause tremors, but the amount of water needed is much more than previously thought, says Steve Miller, a geologist at the University of Bonn, Germany.
In recent years, geologists have documented small earthquakes that occurred after heavy rainfall in Germany, Switzerland and France. All were low in magnitude – meaning they could be detected by seismographs, but not felt by humans.
Some experts have suggested that although the rainfall was heavy, the fact that rain could trigger an earthquake at all suggests that it takes extremely little to produce a tremor. They concluded that the Earth's crust in a delicate balance, teetering on the edge of a slight shake-up at any moment.

According to me there are possibilities that construction of large water dams, water reservoirs, different types of mining and increasing use of groundwater (which is creating vacuum inside the earth) in and around Jharkhand are major reason why these earthquakes are occurring at such frequent intervals.
Severe earthquakes can be triggered by dewatering and flooding of mines, as these activities alter the loading of the Earth’s crust and tectonic stresses in its interior. Worldwide, more than 200 studies have noted sites where human-induced stresses could have reactivated preexisting faults, triggering earthquakes with seismic moment magnitudes of up to M = 7 on the Richter scale. This can only occur where faults are already under high tectonic stresses that have built up over many years. Stable continental regions are seismically less active than unstable regions (e.g. California, Japan, and Turkey). Consequently, faults in stable continental regions can be more earthquake-trigger sensitive, since accumulated stresses have not reached failure conditions.

After becoming the new state there is boom in building industry. Lots of multistoried buildings are being built in the capital city of Jharkhand on the highly metamorphosed rocks filled with numerous joints and fractures. Very few people go for soil or rock testing before constructing huge buildings which is very essential. These constructions may disturb the balance (isostasy) of the local rock types. Stress from the skyscraper may re-open ancient earthquake fault.
Though stress and strain developing on the rocks can also be treated as the major cause of the earthquakes.

From last couple of years Jharkhand has felt few tremors in different parts of the State of low intensity and unfortunately due to its localized occurrence its intensity was not recorded.

Other causes of Earthquakes in Jharkhand:

Earthquakes of Jharkhand may be placed in one broad categories. Earthquakes originate from stress fields built up in the Precambrian shield, supporting the Vindhyan, Gondwana and younger basins.
Several events such as the 1868 Hazaribagh, 1963 Ranchi and 1969 Bankura were generated by release of stress built up in the relatively more stable Jharkhand Plateau region underlain by Precambrian formations. These, by analogy with other Peninsular Shield events such as Latur and Jabalpur earthquakes, may possible belong to the class of Stable Continental Earthquakes. This class of intraplate earthquakes occur in areas characterized by antiquity (2.5-0.5 billion years), much lower deformation rates compared to the more active regions of the intraplate regions and therefore longer periods of recurrence, reduced heat flow, greater average crustal thickness and low elastic attenuation. Several parameters of the earthquakes of the region are still not known and the classification here is, therefore, tentative.
Regarding the type of earthquakes occurring in State it may be placed under “Shallow Earthquakes” ("Crustal" quakes) which are caused by faults in the continental plates, as a result from the relative motion of sections of the plates. They are usually 1 to 5 magnitude, less than 15 miles deep, occur random and unpredictable and most of them are not even felt.

The Tatapani Fault in the western part of the state has been active since the Holocene period and extends across the border into the neighbouring state of Chhattisgarh. The Munger-Saharsa Ridge Marginal Fault runs in a north-south direction through the eastern districts of the state before entering West Bengal. However it must be stated that proximity to faults does not necessarily translate into a higher hazard as compared to areas located further away, as damage from earthquakes depends on numerous factors such as subsurface geology as well as adherence to the building codes.
Possibilities of major earthquake in this stable region cannot be ruled out. Different researches has shown that ancient fault line can be re-activated. Old continental crust contains a billion-year record of past tectonic activity. This area was once a seismically active. "We don't yet understand how faults are reactivated, but it appears that some pre-existing faults are more likely to break than others. Regarding Jharkhand the possibility of reactivation of a pre-existing fault can happen under the influence of the ambient stress field due to the India–Eurasia plate collision forces.



Reference:

Rajat Mazumder, A.J. (Tom) van Loon and Makoto Arima (2006)Sedimentary
Geology, Volume 186, Issues 1-2, Pages 19-26
Mahadevan, T.M., 2002. Geology of Bihar & Jharkhand. Geological Society of India, Bangalore.

http://www.boloji.com/environment/58.htm
http://environment.newscientist.com/article/dn13371-heavy-rain-can-trigger-earthquakes.html
http://asc-india.org/maps/hazard/haz-jharkhand.htm
http://www.springerlink.com/content/r0765k18488l23lk/
http://www.scienceblog.com/cms/ancient_fault_lines_may_have_become_re-activated.

N. Purnachandra Rao,T. Tsukuda, M. Kosuga, S. C. Bhatia and G. Suresh, 2002. Deep lower crustal earthquakes in central India: inferences from analysis of regional broadband data of the 1997 May 21, Jabalpur earthquake. Geophysical Journal International Volume 148 Issue 1 Page 132-138.


Dr. Nitish Priyadarshi
76,circular road,
Ranchi-834001
Jharkhand
India
Email: rch_nitishp@sancharnet.in