Multiple experts fear Uttarakhand could be hit by earthquakes of the magnitude of those that have flattened Turkey and Syria, pointing to the pent-up energy and tension under the earth in the hill state.

Kalachand Sain, the director of the Wadia Institute of Himalayan Geology, Dehradun, said on Tuesday that a huge amount of energy had built up under the earth below the hill state and its release would result in massive earthquakes and devastation.

“The entire Himalayan belt, which includes Uttarakhand, is very sensitive. An earthquake of more than magnitude 8 (on the Richter scale) had occurred along the Bihar-Nepal border in 1934. Another quake of magnitude 7.8 had hit the Kangra region in 1905. Our Uttarakhand is situated in the zone in between these two, which we call a ‘central seismic cap’ and is considered very sensitive,” Sain said, adding, however, that when such a disaster could happen could not be predicted.

He said a study by the institute suggests that such a quake could affect an area of 300sqkm, including the National Capital Region.

“We need to be ready to protect ourselves from devastation, which mostly happens because of our own fault. We need to build only earthquake-resistant houses, which Japan has done,” Sain told reporters.

Earthquakes in Uttarkashi in 1991 and Chamoli district in 1999 had been measured at 6 on the Richter scale. Dr N. Purnchandra Rao, a scientist at the Hyderabad-based National Geophysical Research Institute (NGRI), said Uttarakhand should be prepared to face a Turkey-like earthquake.

“There is huge tension inside the earth in Uttarakhand. This tension will be released after an earthquake of high magnitude. However, we cannot forecast its date or time. Our data shows that the tension has been accumulating for long,” Rao said.

Bageshwar district of Uttarakhand witnessed an earthquake of magnitude 2.5 on Monday. The NGRI has set up 20 stations in Uttarakhand to monitor the situation and collect details through biometric GPS data processing.

A team from the NGRI has also visited Joshimath, where dozens of houses and roads have developed cracks due to subsidence.