Goa’s earthquake response readiness

While it is not the earthquake themselves that kill people but the collapse of man-made structures which does most of the damage, the resilience of human-kind has perennially demonstrated perseverance to survive in the face of adversity.

In 2021, in a “catastrophic projection”, a panel of seismological experts had warned that 2,00,000 buildings in Istanbul stood at risk to suffer damage, thus threatening to put the lives of three million residents in the city into jeopardy. 

From an investigation into a previous earthquake from the year 1999 that killed thousands, it was found that buildings did not meet design requirements and were not earthquake resistant, as is required by the regulations. 

The buildings in Turkey also made use of poor quality construction material and were shoddily constructed, investigators noted. 

From multiple studies, including the one from 2020, have reiterated prudence, averring that multiple districts would be vulnerable to earthquakes of more than 7.4 in magnitude. 

It’s not a question of “if” but “when”, experts opined way back in the year 2021.

Interestingly, in India while considering the recorded history of earthquakes in the country, a total of - 59% of the land mass of India remains prone to earthquakes of different intensities. 

As per the seismic zoning map of the country, the country’s total area has been classified into four seismic zones. 

Zone V is seismically the most active region, while zone II is the least.

Approximately, 11% area of the country falls in zone V, 18% in zone IV, 30% in zone III and remaining in zone II.

Incidentally, according to Seismic Mapping, the State of Goa was classified into Zone III.

On the 6th of January, 2011, an earthquake was recorded 44 kms from Panaji at 6:54 am. It was only after a delay of nearly 20-days, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) had confirmed an earthquake had indeed occurred in Goa.

The IMD Goa director at the time had reported that the earthquake measured 2.2 on the Richter scale and was recorded on the Real Time Seismic Monitoring Network (RTSMN).

Therefore in light of historical occurrences, Goa also needs to engage into preparedness measures towards mitigating earthquake-related consequences.

On the website of the Goa State Disaster Management Authority, the State Disaster Management Plan-SDMP has been shown to be “Under Updation” and hence was unavailable for reference.

The State Disaster Management Plan from December, 2014 can help to shed light on the measures to be put in place towards earthquake readiness in Goa. 

According to the Standard Operating Procedures relating to pre-earthquake measures, it has always been understood that adopting appropriate mitigation measures in advance were more cost effective than spending a large sum of money on relief, recovery and rehabilitation.

From the perspective of the Directorate of Mines and Geology:

• - Seismo-tectonic and seismic hazard microzonation maps of the region would need to be prepared. This shall help in locating the seismogenic faults and other potential sources of earthquakes and also in delineating high seismic risk areas in the region;
• - With the rate of population growth in Goa region being very high due to the unplanned and unscientific expansion of many towns and cities in the region has led to increased vulnerability of life and property towards unpredictable seismic hazards;
• - The seismic network in the region has to be built and strengthened with seismic instruments that need to be installed.
• The outlook of the Department of Town and Country Planning envisages:
• - Suitable building codes as recommended in the latest BIS notification (IS 13828:1993) should be adhered to while constructing structures in the region. These along with the land-use restrictions should be incorporated in the Town and Country Planning laws and in the Municipal by-laws.

However, preventive measures can only serve to be prepared for the actual catastrophe the aftermath of which would be inevitable.

Resultantly, the post-earthquake measures would be in the nature of Recovery:

A response, which covers urgent actions, basically represents a short-term expediency. 

Recovery follows response and would be more general and long-term in nature. 

Response shall be covered under the orders of the Government, which gives freedom of action to the officials and Recovery does not have this flexibility.

Accordingly, recovery covers restoration, reconstruction and long-term community rehabilitation. Thus being complex, extensive and could generate a number of problems.

As in the case of planning for the disasters, information once again plays an important role for proper recovery actions to be initiated. 

The sources of information are:

• - Information from the response operations will give a lot of inputs for the recovery plans and these could be obtained from Damage surveys and need assessment survey (to be done as post-disaster activity) and survey report to be sent by the Collector to the  Commissioner and Secretary, Disaster Management & Relief Department.
• - After action reports by team leaders/departments,
• - Information available with the control rooms,
• - Reports from NGOs,
• - Reports of the International Aid Agencies,
• - Information from the Media,
• - Reports of the Nodal Officers covering the disaster,
• - Post-disaster Review,
• - Development programme of the region or area,

The Union Ministry of Home Affairs has demonstrated keenness to ensure that all new buildings should be made earthquake resistant in the first instance so that they do not add to the stock of existing unsafe buildings. 

Thus, the buildings have to be constructed using brickwork or, solid hollow concrete blocks with flat roofs for incorporating the earthquake resistant features suitable for the respective seismic zone.