According to experts, Delhi’s geographical location makes it prone to frequent earthquakes, as it lies in the Himalayan foothills. Scientific studies have highlighted that the Indian plates are continuously driving towards the Eurasian plates at a rate of 5-6 cm per year.Delhi earthquakes: 11 mild earthquakes in Delhi since May have raised speculation about a big one, but scientists say these are not unusual. A look at why predicting an earthquake is difficult, and how an area should stay prepared.An earthquake of magnitude 2.1 was detected near Delhi on Monday. It was the eleventh minor earthquake recorded in and around Delhi since May, the most powerful of which happened to be of magnitude 3.4. These recent earthquakes have triggered discussions on the possibility of increased seismicity around Delhi, and fears of an impending big earthquake sometime soon. None of these apprehensions have any scientific basis.

Scientists are unequivocal in asserting that no unusual seismic activity is taking place around Delhi in the last few months. “There is absolutely nothing happening in Delhi that can be called unusual or abnormal,” said Vineet Gehlot, former head of the National Centre for Seismology in Delhi, who is now at the Hyderabad-based National Geophysical Research Institute (NGRI).

“If you look at the earthquake catalogue, Delhi and its surrounding areas, and this would extend till Jaipur, Ajmer, Mount Abut and the Aravallis, usually experience between two and three earthquakes of magnitude 2.5 and above every month. But there are monthly and annual variations as well. Geological and seismological processes are not very smooth. So sometimes you would expect to see higher number of earthquakes as well. I am pretty sure nothing special has happened in Delhi in the last couple of months,” he said.

Detection of earthquakes, especially those of smaller magnitude, being recorded in an area also depends on the number of seismic recorders installed in that area. The area around Delhi has the most dense concentration of seismometers anywhere in the country, even more than the Himalayan region which is seismically much more active. Out of the 115 detectors installed in the country, 16 are in or around Delhi. As a result, even the earthquakes of smaller magnitude, those that are not even felt by most people, are recorded, and this information is publicly accessible.Earthquakes of magnitude four or below hardly cause any damage anywhere and are mostly inconsequential for practical purposes. Thousands of such earthquakes are recorded around the world every year, and most of them are uneventful. And, they certainly do not signal any big upcoming event.

“The concept of foreshocks is something that is largely applied in hindsight. When a big event happens, all the smaller earthquakes that have occurred in that region in the near past are classified as foreshocks. Foreshocks are post-event definitions. The description does not exist before any big earthquake has happened. So all this talk of these being foreshocks of a big earthquake in Delhi have no basis at all,” said Harsh Gupta, one of India’s foremost experts on earthquakes and a former director of NGRI.

“A big earthquake might still occur. No one can rule it out. But they cannot be predicted. So to say that these small earthquakes are precursors to the big one is totally unscientific,” he said.

What, then, is a signal to an upcoming earthquake?

Scientists have been working for years to identify “precursors” to an earthquake, but have so far met with no success. Some special earthquakes, the ones that are triggered by volcanic activity, can be predicted to some extent — Gehlot calls them “much more well-behaved” than others — but nothing else.

Predicting earthquakes in a region like Delhi is all the more difficult because the place does not lie on any faultlines. “I would say we still understand a little bit about the tectonics in the Himalayan region, where two tectonic plates are meeting each other. But Delhi does not lie on a plate boundary. It is located on a single plate, and the seismic activity is generated by internal deformities. Here, we understand even less. Therefore, predicting earthquakes in advance is out of the question,” Gehlot said.

The Himalayan region, extending from the Hindu Kush to the Northeast and going south to Southeast Asia, is seismically one of the most active regions in the world. The region has experienced several big earthquakes in the past, most recently in 2015 in Nepal.

A magnitude 6 earthquake is typically associated with the kind of energy that was released by the atom bomb in Hiroshima. Since the magnitude of earthquakes are measured on a logarithmic scale, a magnitude 7 earthquake is about 32 times more powerful than a magnitude 6 earthquake. Accordingly, a magnitude 8 earthquake would be almost 1,000 times more powerful than a magnitude 6 event.

So, is a big one coming to Delhi?

No one knows, but a more relevant question, Gupta said, is what even if we knew. “Supposing we know that a magnitude 6 earthquake is going to occur in Delhi at 11 am tomorrow. What can we do after that? Can we get the entire city evacuated? Is that possible? Prediction is not going to make us safe against earthquakes. What is important is that we need to make our structures earthquake resistant, we need to follow prescribed drills when an event happens, everyone must know what is the best place to run to when we are in office, or at home, or in open spaces. It is these kinds of discussions that are meaningful. Instead, what we see is speculation, rumours and half-baked information in public discussions,” he said.

So a big earthquake is very much possible in Delhi. No one is ruling out that possibility. But they would occur when they have to. Earthquakes still like to come unannounced. They do not like to knock on our doors with foreshocks.

Tamil culture is the culture of the Tamil people. Tamil culture is rooted in the arts and ways of life of Tamils in India, Sri Lanka, Malaysia, Singapore and across the globe. Tamil culture is expressed in language, literature, music, dance, theatre, folk arts, martial arts, painting, sculpture, architecture, sports, media, comedy, cuisine, costumes, celebrations, philosophy, religions, traditions, rituals, organizations, science, and technology.

Language and Literature…

Tamils have strong attachment to the Tamil language, which is often venerated in literature as “Tamilan , “the Tamil mother”.It has historically been, and to large extent still is, central to the Tamil identity.Like the other languages of South India, it is a Dravidian language, unrelated to the Indo-European languages of northern India. The Tamil language preserves many features of Proto-Dravidian, though modern-day spoken Tamil in Tamil Nadu freely uses loanwords from Sanskrit and English and vice versa. Also, the language does not have many commonly used alphabets in the English language and Hindi (a product of Sanskrit and written in Devanagri script).Tamil literature is of considerable antiquity, and is recognised as a classical language by the government of India. Classical Tamil literature, which ranges from lyric poetry to works on poetics and ethical philosophy, is remarkably different from contemporary and later literature in other Indian languages, and represents the oldest body of secular literature in South-east Asia.

Relegious…

Ancient Tamil grammatical works Tolkappiyam, the ten anthologies Pattuppattu, the eight anthologies Ettuttokai sheds light on early religion of ancient Dravidian people. Murugan was glorified as, the god of war, who is ever young and resplendent, as the favored god of the Tamils.Sivan was also seen as the supreme God.Early iconography of Murugan and Sivan and their association with native flora and fauna goes back to Indus Valley Civilization.The Sangam landscape was classified into five categories, thinais, based on the mood, the season and the land. Tolkappiyam, mentions that each of these thinai had an associated deity such Seyyon in Kurinji-the hills, Thirumaal in Mullai-the forests, and Venthan in Marutham-the plains, Kotravai in Palai-the deesert and kadalon in the Neithal-the coasts and the seas. Other gods mentioned were Mayyon and Vaali who were all assimilated into Hinduism over time. Dravidian influence on early Vedic religion is evident, many of these features are already present in the oldest known Indo-Aryan language, the language of the Rigveda (c. 1500 BCE), which also includes over a dozen words borrowed from Dravidian.This represents an early religious and cultural fusionor synthesis between ancient Dravidians and Indo-Aryans, which became more evident over time with sacred iconography, flora and fauna that went on to influence Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism.

About 88% of the population of Tamil Nadu are Hindus. Christians and Muslims account for 6% and 5.5% respectively.The majority of Muslims in Tamil Nadu speak Tamil,with less than 15% of them reporting Urdu as their mother tongue.Tamil Jains number only a few thousand now.Atheist, rationalist, and humanist philosophies are also adhered by sizeable minorities, as a result of Tamil cultural revivalism in the 20th century, and its antipathy to what it saw as Brahminical Hinduism.

The most popular deity is Murugan, he is known as the patron god of the Tamils and is also called “Tamil Kadavul” (Tamil God).In Tamil tradition, Murugan is the youngest son and Ganesha/Pillayar is the eldest son of Shiva/Sivan, and it is different from the North Indian tradition, which represents Murugan as the eldest son. The goddess Parvati is often depicted as a goddess with green skin complexion in Tamil Hindu tradition. The worship of Amman, also called Mariamman, is thought to have been derived from an ancient mother goddess, is also very common.Kannagi, the heroine of the Cilappatikaram, is worshipped as Pattini by many Tamils, particularly in Sri Lanka.There are also many followers of Ayyavazhi in Tamil Nadu, mainly in the southern districts. In addition, there are many temples and devotees of Vishnu, Siva, Ganapathi, and the other Hindu deities. Muslims across Tamil Nadu follow Hanafi and Shafi’i schools. Most Tamil Muslims are Shadhilis. Erwadi in Ramanathapuram district and Nagore in Nagapattinam district are the major pilgrimage centres for Muslims in Tamil Nadu.

The most important Tamil festivals are Pongal, a harvest festival that occurs in mid-January, and Puthandu, the Tamil New Year, which occurs on 14 April. Both are celebrated by almost all Tamils, regardless of religion. The Hindu festival Deepavali is celebrated with fanfare; other local Hindu festivals include Thaipusam, Panguni Uttiram, and Adiperukku. While Adiperukku is celebrated with more pomp in the Cauvery region than in others, the Ayyavazhi Festival, Ayya Vaikunda Avataram, is predominantly celebrated in the southern districts of Kanyakumari District, Tirunelveli, and Thoothukudi.

In rural Tamil Nadu, many local deities, called aiyyanars, are thought to be the spirits of local heroes who protect the village from harm.Their worship often centres around nadukkal, stones erected in memory of heroes who died in battle. This form of worship is mentioned frequently in classical literature and appears to be the surviving remnants of an ancient Tamil tradition.

The Saivist sect of Hinduism is significantly represented amongst Tamils, more so among Sri Lankan Tamils, although most of the Saivist places of religious significance are in northern India. The Alvars and Nayanars, who were predominantly Tamils, played a key role in the renaissance of Bhakti tradition in India. In the 10th century, the philosopher Ramanuja, who propagated the theory of Visishtadvaitam, brought many changes to worshiping practices, creating new regulations on temple worship, and accepted lower-caste Hindus as his prime disciples.

Tamil Jains constitute around 0.13% of the population of Tamil Nadu.Many of the rich Tamil literature works were written by Jains.According to George L. Hart, the legend of the Tamil Sangams or “literary assemblies: was based on the Jain sangham at Madurai.

Tamil Nadu, state of India.Tamil Nadu, state of India, located in the extreme south of the subcontinent. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the east and south and by the states of Kerala to the west, Karnataka (formerly Mysore) to the northwest, and Andhra Pradesh to the north. Enclosed by Tamil Nadu along the north-central coast are the enclaves of Puducherry and Karaikal, both of which are part of Puducherry union territory. The capital is Chennai (Madras), on the coast in the northeastern portion of the state., located in the extreme south of the subcontin.

Tamil Nadu represents the Tamil-speaking area of what was formerly the Madras Presidency of British India. The Tamils are especially proud of their Dravidian language and culture, and they have notably resisted attempts by the central government to make Hindi (an Indo-Aryan language) the sole national language. While it has an industrial core in Chennai, the state is essentially agricultural. Area 50,216 square miles (130,058 square km). Pop. (2011) 72,138,958.