Check out how vulnerable is India to earthquakes

An earthquake of magnitude 6.4 on the Richter Scale hit Assam's Sonitpur at a depth of 17 km from the surface on April 28, 7:51 am. The epicentre of the earthquake was 43 km west of Assam's Tezpur, the National Center for Seismology said. (Image: Twitter/@himantabiswa)

About 59 percent of India’s land mass is prone to earthquakes of different intensities. The area is classified into four seismic zones: Zone-V (Very High Risk), Zone-IV (High Risk), Zone-III (Moderate Risk), and Zone-II (Low Risk).

Zone V is seismically the most active region, while zone II is the least. Approximately 11 percent area falls in zone V, 18 percent in zone IV, 30 percent in zone III and remaining in zone II.

The entire Himalayan belt is considered prone to great earthquakes of magnitude exceeding 8.0. In span of about 50 years, four such earthquakes have occurred: 1897 Shillong (M8.7); 1905 Kangra (M8.0); 1934 Bihar-Nepal (M8.3); and 1950 Assam-Tibet (M8.6), according to India’s National Disaster Management Authority.