IISER MOHALI

Abstract: The tectonically active Himalayan mountains have produced some of the most devastating earthquakes in the recent past, viz. Kangra (1905), Assam (1950), Uttarkashi (1991), Chamoli (1999), Kashmir (2005), Sikkim (2011) and Nepal (2015). These earthquakes have caused enormous loss of lives and property, highlighting the vulnerability of civilizations in areas where major earthquakes occur. More than a sixth of the world’s population live in India. This population is growing rapidly and is accompanied by rapid urban development in regions of high seismic hazard. Recent advances in instrumentation and computational techniques have enabled geoscientists, particularly seismologists, structural geologists and tectonic geomorphologists, to better understand active faults, earthquake source properties, seismic velocity structure and attenuation of seismic energy. This knowledge is used to quantify seismic hazards in the Himalaya and the adjoining Indo-Gangetic plains, the most densely populated regions of the country. I will present studies of recent moderate-to-major Himalayan earthquakes from this century (eg. 2005 Kashmir, 2011 Sikkim, 2013 Kishtwar and 2015 Nepal) and how this knowledge should be incorporated in estimation of future seismic hazard.

About the Speaker: Prof. Supriyo Mitra is Professor of Earth Sciences at IISER Kolkata and a leading seismologist working on Himalayan tectonics, crustal structure, and earthquake hazard. He obtained his PhD in Geophysics (Seismology) from the University of Cambridge and has previously served on the faculty at IIT Kharagpur.

He is an elected Fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society (FRAS) and the West Bengal Academy of Science and Technology (FWAST), and was recently selected as an Associate Fellow of the Indian National Science Academy (INSA). His contributions to applied geoscience were recognized with the National Geoscience Award from the Ministry of Mines, Government of India.

Prof. Mitra has led several national and international projects, including UKRI–MoES and Royal Society collaborations focused on earthquake hazard and resilience in India. He established and heads the Seismological Observatory and Computational Seismology facility at IISER Kolkata, and has supervised numerous PhD scholars and postdoctoral researchers in seismology and geophysics.