Hyderabad, Dec 10: There is an active fault beneath the Tehri dam that enhances the earthquake risk, scientists of the National Geophysical Research Institute (NGRI) here have reported. The Tehri dam is located near Tehri town in Uttarakhand in the Kumaon-Garhwal Himalayas region.
"The tectonic loading on this active fault due to local seismicity, coupled with the reservoir loading and unloading, may generate earthquake(s) and cause additional seismic risk in this critically stressed region," Sandeep Gupta and co-workers in NGRI claim in their report in the latest issue of "Current Science" published by the Indian Academy of Sciences.
They say their conclusion is based on evidence obtained by mapping of the seismicity pattern in the Kumaon-Garhwal Himalayas region in general and around the Tehri dam in particular, using observations from a temporary seismological network they operated for over 39 months during 2005-2008.
