India released a revised seismic zonation map on 28 November 2025 via the Bureau of Indian Standards Earthquake Design Code, classifying the entire Himalayan arc from Jammu & Kashmir to Arunachal Pradesh in a new highest-risk Zone VI.
This shift shows 61% of the country now under moderate to high hazard zones, up from 59%, affecting three-fourths of the population. Scientists like Vineet Gahalaut praise the data-driven uniformity, while BIS urges immediate adoption of 2025 codes; builders and urban planners face stricter norms with no reported pushback yet.
Himalayas in Highest Risk Zone
Older maps divided the Himalayas across Zones IV and V despite uniform tectonic strain from the Indian Plate pushing into the Eurasian at 5 cm yearly along faults like the Himalayan Frontal Thrust.
Central segments stayed quiet for 200 years, building stress unaccounted for in past assessments reliant on historical quakes and damage. The probabilistic seismic hazard method now factors active faults, max magnitudes, wave spread, soil types, and lithology, aligning risks with geology over borders.
Stats and Building Safeguards
Zone VI flags peak shaking in Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, and nearby Uttar Pradesh areas; boundary towns auto-upgrade to higher risk. BIS mandates anchoring non-structural items over 1% building weight like parapets and tanks, plus designs for pulse motions near faults, liquefaction, and site spectra.
Critical sites such as hospitals, schools, bridges must function post-quake; PEMA tool weighs population density and vulnerability. Gahalaut told the Times of India, “The earlier zonation did not fully account for the behaviour of these locked segments,” stressing stored energy release.
States with Highest Risk
In the newly revised seismic map of India, the entire Himalayan region has been placed in highest risk zone. The Himalayan arc from Arunachal Pradesh to Kashmir face highest risk.
The updated map highlights the impact of the Indian-Eurasian plate collision, showing increasing geological stress under densely populated regions such as Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, and parts of Uttar Pradesh.
The Logical Indian’s Perspective
The Logical Indian welcomes this science-led map as a lifeline for millions, calling for empathy-driven retrofits in crowded Himalayan foothills to shield families from silent threats. Kindness means sharing quake drills and pushing enforcement for harmony in growth and safety.
