Natural Hazards and Risk Mitigation

The book is on latest investigations of natural hazards like earthquakes, landslides, and glacial hazards carried out in last few years. Review papers are on the crustal structure of Himalaya based on latest studies through tomography and receiver transfer function. The seismotectonic models inferred from detailed modelling are also presented. Papers are on shallow soil/sediment structures inferred from passive seismic data, and also on estimation of strong ground motion. Several papers are on landslides and slope stability and two papers on glacial Hazards. A paper suggests multidisciplinary investigations for landslide and glacial hazards. Most of the papers are on investigations in J&K and western Himalaya which have come out for the first time. The results will be useful for planning risk mitigation. One paper is on safety of heritage structures of Ahmedabad UNESCO Heritage Site. Four papers give estimates of active deformation using PSINsar data in different regions. Two papers are on precursors. One review paper relates GPS results with earthquakes. Velocities of inferred movements in different parts of Himalaya are interpreted as partitions of active zones. This may preclude occurrence of mega earthquakes in Himalaya. Some papers show maps of VS30. One paper illustrates liquefaction potential at a dam site. Some papers outlay strategies for multidisciplinary research for risk mitigation of multi hazards. This book can serve as a valuable resource for researchers and professionals interested in the field of natural hazards.

Dr. B.K. Rastogi, formerly Head, Seismology at NGRI, Hyderabad and Director General Institute of Seismological Research (2006 to 2015) which he established, is presently President of Indian Society of Earthquake Science. Rastogi is M.Sc. and Ph.D. (Geophys.) from ISM, Dhanbad. He has worked for more than 5 years in most prestigious institutes of the world, including University of South Carolina, University of Colorado, Boulder, IISEE, Tokyo, Univ. of Tokyo, US Geol. Sur., Menlo Park, Univ. Hamburg, Germany, Grenoble Univ. IPSN, Paris and Inst Phys. Earth, Moscow. His significant contributions include (i) identification of Bombay High, the oil-bearing structure in 1968, (ii) development of seismic characteristics to differentiate reservoir-induced earthquakes from ordinary earthquakes, (iii) assessment of seismic hazard on regional basis and in specific areas, and (iv) characterization of intraplate earthquakes and their foreshock-aftershock patterns. Prof. Rastogi is Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Ind. Soc. Earthq. Sc., and he has edited three special volumes. He has a US patent for Earthquake Prediction method. Prof. Rastogi has guided eight Ph.D. students and 100+ M.Sc. dissertations. He is author of the book “Dams and Earthquakes,” which is translated into Russian and Chinese and followed by engineers worldwide. He is Fellow of Ind. Geophysical Un. and Guj. Sc. Academy, and is recipient of 2014 Bharat Jyoti Award of In. Intl. Friendship Soc., New Delhi, 2014 SKOCH Order of Merit Award, 2013-14 National e-Governance award, 2011 Indian Geophysical Un Decennial medal, ISM Distinguished Alumni Award, European Council Madam Curie Bursary, JICA Fellowship, and NSF Fellowship.

Dr. Girish Chandra Kothyari works as Senior Associate Professor, University of Petroleum and Energy Studies Dehradun from 2022. Earlier, he worked at the Institute of Seismological Research, Gandhinagar for 13 years. He has guided 16 M.Sc. dissertations, 3 Ph.D. students and is currently guiding four Ph.D. students. He is recipient of National Geoscience Award (NGA) 2017 Ministry of Mines Govt. of India in the field of applied geosciences and several other awards. He has authored or co-authored some 100 SCI research papers. His Google scholar citations are 1789, with h-index of 25.

Dr. Khayingshing Luirei is Senior Scientist at the Wadia Institute of Himalayan Geology, Dehradun. He has completed Ph.D. under Prof. P.D. Pant at Kumaun University on the topic “Active faults and neotectonics of Kumaun Himalaya including landslide hazard zonation.” He is a recipient of Wadia Institute of Himalayan Geology best paper award 2010. Dr. Luirei has authored some 50 SCI research papers on active faults, neotectonics, slope stability and landslides. He has guided two Ph.D. students.