Overview
The NDMA framework, safe construction and preparedness
How India prepares for, responds to and recovers from earthquakes.
Earthquake disaster management is everything done before and after an earthquake to save lives: prevention, mitigation and preparedness before it, and response, rehabilitation and recovery after it. Since an earthquake cannot be prevented, India's approach under the Disaster Management Act, 2005 and the NDMA guidelines of 2007 rests on safer buildings, preparedness and quick response.
Earthquake Disaster Management in India: The Risk
Is India Earthquake Prone? Risk and Vulnerability
India is highly earthquake prone: about 59 per cent of its land could face moderate to severe earthquakes. By the seismic zoning map, about 11 per cent of the country lies in the most active zone V, about 18 per cent in zone IV and about 30 per cent in zone III.
- Zone V places: All cities of the north-eastern states and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, and places such as Bhuj, Srinagar, Dharamsala and Pithoragarh.
- Buildings kill: In India’s major earthquakes the casualties were caused primarily by the collapse of buildings, which similar earthquakes in the United States or Japan do not cause.
- Rural houses: More than 61 per cent of rural buildings are built of mud and clay, stone, brick or concrete without engineering, against 26.7 per cent in urban areas.
- Rising exposure: Flyovers, multi-storeyed buildings, malls and techno parks in the metropolitan cities multiply the risk.
How earthquakes happen, and the seismic zones of India in detail, are explained in Earthquakes Part 1 and Earthquakes Part 2.
Major Earthquakes in India and Their Lessons
Each major earthquake taught India something. More than 23,000 lives were lost in six major earthquakes between 1990 and 2006, and the older ones had already shown that no part of the country is safe.
| Earthquake | What it showed |
|---|---|
| Kangra, 1905 (magnitude 8.0) | Among the most catastrophic in India's history; 19,800 lives |
| Koyna, 1967, and Latur, 1993 | The Peninsula, long thought safe, is not; the zoning map was revised |
| Uttarkashi 1991, Jabalpur 1997, Chamoli 1999 | A decade of damaging earthquakes in the Himalaya and central India |
| Bhuj, 26 January 2001 (magnitude 7.9) | 12,932 lives lost and 890 villages devastated |
| Jammu and Kashmir, 8 October 2005 | Heavy losses on both sides of the Line of Control |
Institutional Framework for Earthquake Disaster Management
Disaster Management Act, 2005: NDMA, SDMA, DDMA, NDRF and NCS
The Disaster Management Act, 2005, which received the President's assent on 23 December 2005, set up a three-tier system for managing all disasters, earthquakes included. Policy is made at the top and plans are carried out by states and districts.
- NDMA: The National Disaster Management Authority, chaired by the Prime Minister, lays down policies and guidelines.
- NEC: The National Executive Committee prepares the National Disaster Management Plan, which the NDMA approves.
- SDMA: Each state’s authority, chaired by the Chief Minister, prepares and carries out state plans, including those for earthquakes.
- DDMA: Chaired by the Collector or District Magistrate, with the local elected representative as co-chairperson.
- The Act itself: 11 chapters and 79 sections, extending to the whole of India.
Three specialist bodies support the authorities. The NDRF responds, the NIDM trains, and the National Centre for Seismology watches the ground.
- NDRF: Formed under the Act for specialist response; set up in 2006 with 8 battalions, it now has 16, each of 1,149 personnel, drawn from the central armed police forces.
- SDRF: States are asked to train at least one battalion-equivalent of their own armed police as a State Disaster Response Force.
- NIDM: Began in 1995 as the National Centre for Disaster Management and was renamed the National Institute of Disaster Management in 2005; it trains, researches and develops human resources.
- National Centre for Seismology: The nodal agency under the Ministry of Earth Sciences for monitoring earthquakes, with a network of more than 170 stations and a 24×7 monitoring centre; India’s earthquake monitoring began in 1898 at Alipore, Calcutta.
NDMA Guidelines for Earthquake Management
NDMA Guidelines for Earthquake: Vision and the Six Pillars
The NDMA issued its guidelines for the management of earthquakes in April 2007. Their vision is zero tolerance to avoidable deaths due to earthquakes, and their approach covers prevention, mitigation and preparedness before an earthquake and response, rehabilitation and recovery after it.
- Earthquake-resistant new structures: All new buildings follow the codes; professionals dealing with building safety are certified through a licensing process, and every design goes through a mandatory compliance review.
- Retrofitting lifeline structures: Existing buildings are strengthened in a prioritised, phased programme that starts with critical lifeline structures such as schools and hospitals.
- Regulation and enforcement: A techno-legal regime of bye-laws and codes, and a techno-financial one in which financial institutions check seismic safety before lending and insurers share the risk.
- Awareness and preparedness: Mock drills, campaigns and a single all-hazards medical plan for likely injuries, outbreaks of disease and psycho-social trauma.
- Capacity development: Earthquake education in school and college curricula, training for engineers, architects and masons, research and documentation.
- Response: Trained teams at community, district, state and national level, an Incident Command System and a network of Emergency Operations Centres.
Earthquake-Resistant Construction: Codes, Techno-Legal Regime and Retrofitting
Since buildings cause most deaths, safer construction is the heart of earthquake disaster management. India has earthquake-resistant building codes and town planning bye-laws, but they are not strictly enforced.
- New buildings: All new construction is to follow the earthquake-resistant codes and a techno-legal regime of revised town planning bye-laws, land-use zoning, Development Control Regulations and building codes.
- Existing buildings: Retrofitting every structure is neither practical nor affordable, so the guidelines call for a structural safety audit of lifeline structures and selective strengthening.
- Design rules: Adopt earthquake-resistant designs and light materials, and discourage high-rise buildings, large industries and big urban centres in vulnerable areas.
- Guides for citizens: A Home Owner’s Guide for Earthquake and Cyclone Safety (2019) and Simplified Guidelines for Earthquake Safety (2021), based on the National Building Code of India 2016.
- Earthquake engineering: Began as a discipline in India in 1960 at the University of Roorkee.
Earthquake Preparedness: Monitoring, Early Warning and Risk Indexing
Preparedness means knowing the risk and warning people in time. India has built up its seismic monitoring and started indexing the earthquake risk of its cities.
- Monitoring: Seismic observatories rose from 80 in 2014 to 168 by February 2025; the BhooKamp app gives real-time earthquake updates.
- Early warning: Research on an early warning system for the Himalaya is still at a nascent stage; Uttarakhand’s system, developed with IIT Roorkee and launched in 2021, sends alerts through the BhuDev app and sirens.
- Risk indexing: NDMA’s Earthquake Disaster Risk Indexing combines hazard, vulnerability and exposure for each city; Phase I covered 50 cities by 2019, and Phase II adds 16 more.
- Awareness: TV and radio campaigns such as Aapda ka Samna on Doordarshan teach what to do and not to do.
- Vulnerability maps: Mapping vulnerable areas and sharing the risk with the people living there.
Earthquake Response, Global Frameworks and Gaps
Earthquake Response and Recovery: NDRF and Build Back Better
Earthquakes are harder to respond to than most disasters because they destroy transport and communication links, which makes timely relief difficult. The response therefore depends on trained teams, plans made in advance and fast information.
- Community first: Over 80 per cent of search and rescue from collapsed buildings is done by the local community before the state machinery arrives, so trained community teams matter most in the first hours.
- Specialist teams: The NDRF and SDRFs carry out search and rescue; India also sent NDRF teams, medical staff and relief to Turkiye and Syria after the earthquake of February 2023.
- Command and relief: An Incident Command System coordinates agencies, while community teams help set up shelters, distribute relief and trace missing people.
- A ready plan: India’s first National Disaster Management Plan, released on 1 June 2016, lists eighteen response activities, from early warning and search and rescue to shelters and relief logistics.
- Build Back Better: The Sendai Framework asks countries to build back better in recovery, rehabilitation and reconstruction, so that rebuilt towns are safer than before.
How NDMA frameworks work for another hazard is shown in Cyclones Part 10, on cyclone forecasting and evacuation.
Sendai Framework and Hyogo Framework: India's Disaster Risk Reduction
India's approach sits inside a global one. The Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction (2015-2030) was adopted in March 2015 in Sendai, Japan, and succeeded the Hyogo Framework for Action (2005-2015).
| Feature | Hyogo (2005-2015) | Sendai (2015-2030) |
|---|---|---|
| Priorities | Five, from making disaster risk reduction a priority to preparedness | Four, from understanding risk to Build Back Better |
| Targets | Priorities only; its successor was asked for achievable targets | Seven global targets, such as lower mortality by 2030 |
| Focus | Reducing disaster losses | Reducing risk, including through early warning |
- India before Sendai: The Disaster Management Act, 2005 and the NDMA earthquake guidelines of 2007.
- India after Sendai: The National Disaster Management Plan of 2016, broadly aligned with Sendai’s goals and four priorities.
- Global role: India launched the Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure at the UN Climate Action Summit in September 2019.
Gaps in India's Earthquake Preparedness
Despite the framework, the gaps are real, and they explain why earthquakes still kill so many in India. Most of them come back to unsafe buildings and weak enforcement.
- Enforcement: Codes and bye-laws exist but are not strictly enforced.
- Rural housing: Most rural buildings are non-engineered, and retrofitting them all is not affordable.
- Urban growth: Big construction in metropolitan cities keeps adding to the risk.
- Early warning: Outside Uttarakhand, no proven earthquake early warning system yet covers the country.
Previous Year UPSC-CSE Questions
Previous Year UPSC-CSE Questions By the end you will be able to draft model answers for the following UPSC questions. Each question carries a collapsible framework showing how to approach it in the exam.
- UPSC Mains 2015 GS-IIIThe frequency of earthquakes appears to have increased in the Indian subcontinent. However, India’s preparedness for mitigating their impact has significant gaps. Discuss various aspects.
How to structure the answer in the exam
Introduction: Open with the risk: about 59 per cent of the land is earthquake-prone and most deaths come from collapsing buildings.
Body (sub-themes to develop):
- Codes and bye-laws exist but are weakly enforced; rural houses are non-engineered.
- Retrofitting everything is unaffordable, so lifeline audits and selective strengthening.
- Monitoring grew from 80 to 168 observatories; early warning is still nascent outside Uttarakhand.
- Risk indexing of cities (EDRI) and awareness campaigns.
Conclusion: Conclude with the NDMA vision of zero tolerance to avoidable deaths: safe buildings, not prediction, close the gap.
- UPSC Mains 2018 GS-IIIDescribe various measures taken in India for Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) before and after signing ‘Sendai Framework for DRR (2015- 2030)’. How is this framework different from ‘Hyogo Framework for Action, 2005’?
How to structure the answer in the exam
Introduction: Open with the Sendai Framework (2015-2030) as the successor to the Hyogo Framework (2005-2015).
Body (sub-themes to develop):
- Before: the Disaster Management Act, 2005; NDMA, SDMAs, DDMAs; NDMA guidelines such as 2007 on earthquakes.
- After: the National Disaster Management Plan, 2016, aligned with Sendai; CDRI in 2019.
- Difference: five Hyogo priorities against four Sendai priorities; seven global targets; Build Back Better.
Conclusion: Conclude that Sendai moves the focus from managing disasters to reducing risk.
- UPSC Mains 2013 GS-IIIHow important are vulnerability and risk assessment for pre-disaster management? As an administrator, what are key areas that you would focus on in Disaster Management System.
How to structure the answer in the exam
Introduction: Open with the idea that risk combines hazard, vulnerability and exposure.
Body (sub-themes to develop):
- Vulnerability maps and city risk indexing guide where to act first.
- Focus areas: building code enforcement, lifeline audits, preparedness drills and awareness.
- Institutions: DDMA plans, SDRF training, NCS information.
Conclusion: Conclude that assessment turns disaster management from reactive to preventive.
Sources
- NDMA: National Disaster Management Guidelines, Management of Earthquakes (2007)
- PIB (MoES): Making India More Disaster-Resilient, 21 March 2025
- PIB (MoES): Awareness About Earthquake Safety Measures, 6 February 2025
- PIB (MoES): Earthquake Early Warning System, 15 March 2021
- PIB (MHA): Highlights of the National Disaster Management Plan, 1 June 2016
- National Centre for Seismology: About NCS
- NCERT: India Physical Environment (Class XI), Natural Hazards and Disasters
- Wikipedia: Disaster Management Act, 2005
- Wikipedia: National Disaster Response Force
- Wikipedia: Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction
- Wikipedia: World Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction
- Wikipedia: Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure
- Wikipedia: 2001 Gujarat earthquake
- Wikipedia: Earthquake early warning system
- UPSC: Civil Services Examination question papers
Disclaimer and notes
This article draws on the National Disaster Management Authority, the Press Information Bureau, the National Centre for Seismology, the NCERT geography textbooks and the other sources listed on this page. Death tolls for past earthquakes vary between sources.