Indian remote sensing satellite (IRS) has shown the potential for mapping the stress field of the earth’s crust that will help to predict areas where powerful earthquakes are most likely, a leading geologist has said recently. “We have shown how remote sensing data can be used in the estimation of stress that will be very useful in evaluating the most seismic vulnerable zone across the globe,” Professor Ramesh Singh of the Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur said. He has reported his work in the prestigious journal “Geophysical Research Letter” published by American Geological Society.
Singh and his colleagues used as a test case the Bhuj earthquake in Gujarat that occurred on 26 January 2001. They compared the data obtained from the LISS-III camera on board IRS-1D before and after the earthquake. They report that the study has clearly shown changes in the stress direction after the main earthquake event.
