Bhima fault
Topic: Natural Hazards and Disaster Management in India · NCERT: Class 11, Ch 2 "Structure and Physiography"; Class 11, Ch 6 "Natural Hazards and Disasters: Causes, Consequences and Management"
Meaning
The Bhima fault is a fault zone along the Bhima river, in the Krishna basin of Maharashtra. A fault zone is a belt of cracks in the Earth's crust where blocks of rock can slip. The Peninsula is usually called "stable" because it lies away from plate edges. Energy released along this fault is one explanation for earthquakes there. Another possible cause is the Indian plate breaking apart.
Example
The fault runs near Latur and Osmanabad in Maharashtra. Energy released along it helps explain the Latur earthquake of 30 September 1993. That quake struck Killari at about magnitude 6.2 and killed about 10,000 people.
Don't confuse with
- Reservoir-induced earthquake: the Koyna quake of 1967, also in Maharashtra, is linked to the weight and water pressure of a dam reservoir. The Latur quake is linked to the Bhima fault, not to a reservoir.
Related concepts
- Himalayan earthquakes
- Seismic zones of India
- Reservoir-induced earthquake
- Latur earthquake 1993
- Bhuj earthquake 2001
- 2005 Kashmir earthquake