CHENNAI: The coast of Tamil Nadu may experience a massive tsunami if an earthquake above 7.5 on the Richter scale strikes the Andaman and Nicobar region, which lies along the Nepal quake boundary plate, a top geologist has warned.
A Sundaramoorthy, former director general of the Geological Survey of India, said Nepal was experiencing earthquakes as the plate boundary, linking Afghanistan, Pakistan, Nepal, Nagaland, Manipur, Andamans and Nicobar Islands as well as Indonesia, was moving towards the north.
This will result in friction and quake, like the 7.1 magnitude earthquake that shook Nepal on Tuesday.
The plate movement, he added, would also result in changes in the geomorphological features of the Himalayas.
“The Andaman and Nicobar was also vulnerable to earthquakes of such high magnitudes as it lies on the same plate boundary,” he noted, adding that if an earthquake of magnitude 7.5 or above takes place under the sea, then the coastal Tamil Nadu will experience a massive tsunami.
The geologist said that Chennai would feel the seismic waves at a higher intensity as it lay on Seismic Zone III.
“The seismic waves, following the impact of Nepal earthquake, was experienced more in Chennai than other parts of Tamil Nadu as the city lies on Zone III,” the geologist said.
When asked whether there will be enough time to evacuate the residents if a quake struck Andaman and Nicobar, the geologist said it was hard to predict.
“When an earthquake struck at Indonesia, India had a time of more than an hour. But if a quake strikes Andaman and Nicobar Islands, it is hard to predict how much time we will get to evacuate people,” he said.
Sundaramoorthy also said that the State government should remain alert and be prepared anytime to deal with any possible disaster in the aftermath of an earthquake.