Living with Earthquakes: Educating masses through earthquake awareness: North East (NE) India perspective

Earthquake is one of the most frightening and destructive phenomena of nature. In this context, attention may be drawn on the intense seismicity, accentuated by the tectonic configuration, of the NE India region and its adjoining south and southeast Asian neighbours including Bhutan, Nepal, Myanmar and Bangladesh. The region, categorized under the highest level of seismic hazard potential: Zone V of the seismic zonation map of India, is visited by 22 large (M ≥ 7.0) and two great earthquakes (M S ∼ 8.7) in the past 130 years. All these earthquakes caused extensive damage and inflicted unbridled misery and hysteria. In the recent past, the NE India region has witnessed rapid urbanization with a significant rise in population relative to the period when these great/large earthquakes occurred and therefore the seismic vulnerability index has increased manifold. The situation demands for widespread dissemination of seismic hazard preparedness through community participation and highlighting on the potential consequences of earthquakes by carrying out extensive mock drill exercises and earthquake awareness programmes. In this paper, the role of statuary bodies viz. National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), CSIR – North East Institute of Science and Technology (CSIR-NEIST) and PhD societal programme (CSIR 800) of Academy of Scientific and Innovative Research (AcSIR) towards seismic hazard mitigation have been comprehensively scrutinised, evaluated and explained in terms of seismic disaster scenario recreation and impact assessment.


Introduction
Even as the time and space prediction of an earthquake is far from reality, the devastations caused by this natural calamity could be efficiently mitigated and managed through adequate preparedness [Turner et al., 1986;Lehman and Taylor, 1987;Mileti, 1999;Perry et al., 2001 andRamirez andPeek-Asa, 2005]. In fact, such strategies are globally recognized and promoted for efficiently minimizing the devastations suffered by the affected populace [Banerjee and Gillespie, 1994]. Emergence of a high magnitude earthquake event may inflict multifaceted socio-economic distress on a society [Srivastava and Gupta, 2004;Marano et al., 2010 andKhazai et al., 2011]. With an increase in the frequency and intensity of natural disasters [Kostyuchenko and Movchan, 2014], there has been widespread efforts by the authorities in many countries to formulate strategies against such disasters with the aim of saving human lives and loss of property [Takeuchi, 2012;Baytiyeh andNaja, 2013 andLiang andCao, 2015]. The unpredictability of earthquake impelled authorities to look for hazard mitigation through appropriate interventions, which can contribute significantly in minimizing the impact of earthquake and hence the loses.
The government actions, towards lowering the impact of disasters, are executed overwhelmingly via an architecture involving an assembly of expertised personalities that formulates the decisions for coherent implementation [Renn et al., 2011]. The National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India is the nodal agency in the country authorized with the mandate to implement and execute multifield strategies for disaster management. So far as earthquake preparedness is concerned, the agency collaborates and entrusts regional institutions, bestowed with intellect and instrument facilitation, to ubiquitously enforce and implement its policies for disaster management. The Geo Sciences and Technology Division (GSTD) of CSIR-North East Institute of Science and Technology (CSIR-NEIST), Jorhat, Assam, a premiere research and development organization of the NE India region and a constituent laboratory of the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR)-New Delhi, India, is adequately equipped with state-of-the-art earthquake research infrastructure and worked jointly with NDMA for several earthquake preparedness campaigns in the region. The division also operated a local seismic network and catalogued several earthquake events originating from the Indian sub-continent.
NE India boasts its uniqueness compared to rest of India primarily due to its geographical isolation from mainland India which led to the evolution of a distinctive geographical entity with a rich political, social, cultural, and historical characteristics and heritage. The region, with an overwhelming and incredible ethnic diversity, probably represents the ethnological transition zone between India and neighbouring China, Bhutan, Burma and Bangladesh [Ali and Das, 2003]. With a total population of 45 million and population density of 174 people per square km according to 2011 Census of India, the dwellers of NE India are highly vulnerable to earthquakes  as it is seismically one of the most active regions of the world [Molnar and Tapponnier, 1975;Verma et al., 1976;Krishna andSanu, 2000 andKayal, 2008]. Traditional housing practices in the NE India had been dominated by "Kecha Ghar" those are made of bamboo, wood, grass/thatch, mud with roof of tin sheets or asbestos sheets known as Assam-type houses etc ( Figure 1). However, the rapid urbanization in the region has led to the construction of high-rise buildings shifting from the conventional Assam-type houses. The latter are relatively safer compared to the modern housing types, given the present burgeoning population and the looming threat from impending large earthquakes. Thus, replacing the traditional housing types has enhanced the proneness of life and property in this region by many degrees to earthquakes and other natural disasters . A brief synopsis Chandan Dey et al. earthquakes (M S ∼ 8:7); the older one occurred on 12 June 1897 [Oldham, 1899], and the other on 15 August 1950 [Poddar, 1950;Tillottson, 1953 andTandon, 1954]. Although, the 1897 great earthquake event was recorded and chronicled by seismic stations outside India, it was the first instrumentally recorded earthquake event of the country [Oldham, 1899]. It prompted the India Meteorological Department (IMD) to establish its first seismic observatory in Alipore (Kolkata) in 1899 [Kayal, 2008]. Subsequently, the 1950 great earthquake was distinctly recorded by the national (IMD) seismic network and by the global seismic stations [Tandon, 1954]. The 1897 great earthquake is argued to have originated due to 'pop-up' tectonics between Dauki fault and Oldham fault influencing the Shillong plateau [Bilham and England, 2001], while the 1950 great earthquake is believed to have originated from the Po Chu fault of the Assam syntaxis zone [Ben-Menahem et al., 1974]. Bilham and England [2001] associates the Great Earthquake of 1897 with the 'pop-up' tectonics between the Dauki fault and the Oldham fault in the Shillong plateau.
The Great Earthquake of 1950 is believed to have originated from right lateral shear movement along the Po Chu fault [Ben-Menahem et al., 1974]. Some of the other notable historic earthquakes in the region are shown in Table   1 in chronological order. Seismicity of the region for past 125 years is shown in Figure 2.
According to the practice of Indian standard code for earthquake resilient design of structures, the region is classified under Zone V of the seismic zonation map of India (Figure 3), which is seismically reckoned as the most hazardous zone [Indian Standard, 2002]. Simultaneously, the region is categorized under Zone IV, i.e. very high seismic risk zone with peak ground acceleration of about 0.35 -0.4g, by the Global Seismic Hazard Assessment Programme carried out in India by the National Geophysical Research Institute, Hyderabad [Bhatia et al. 1999]. A number of earthquake recurrence studies have also been carried out in the region; the recurrence probability of M W ≥ 7 earthquake is modelled to be 13-20 years [Yadav et al., 2010] and that for M W ≥5 is found to be 140 days [Chetia et al., 2019]. Return period and occurrence probability study for the region indicates that the most probable largest magnitude annual earthquake is about 5.8 [Yadav et al., 2011].

Activities undertaken
The toll of lives and damage of properties incurred due to an earthquake are critical to disaster mitigation preparedness, emergency management, rescue and restoration. Evaluation of non-structural mitigation practices is an important aspect of earthquake disaster awareness. Therefore, CSIR NEIST and NDMA, apart from its regular awareness dispensation programs, holistically envisaged a comprehensive preparedness, awareness and perception program constituting two major components, viz. (i) to create a scientific scenario of loss and damage for the event of recurrence of the M 8.7 Shillong Plateau earthquake, based on the historically recorded intensities of ground shaking observed during 1897, and (ii) to make the masses aware about the hazardous situation and encourage earthquake preparedness through media campaign, well organized road shows, workshops on capacity development, school children sensitization and Mock drills [CSIR-NEIST, 2016].

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Earthquake risk education: a NE India perspective Table 1. Occurrence of some notable earthquake events in the NE India (modified after Thingbaijam et al. [2008]).

Place
Year

Mega Mock Drill Exercise
To generate awareness among the people, NDMA in coordination with the SDMAs (State Disaster Management Authority) conducted Mega Mock Exercises, in at least two districts of all the states in NE India, to prepare the first time responders to experience and ready themselves to face any such unusual situation in the future. The NDMA periodically conducts such Mega Mock Exercises in the seismically active cities of the country. Such exercise helps in understanding the direct and indirect repercussions of a big earthquake with an assessment of contemporary preparedness [Sharma et al., 2014]. Apart from generating awareness, it also helps in identifying gaps after evaluating disaster management plans and inter-departmental coordination.
A series of preparatory assembly involving eminent intellects, state government representatives, and stake holders with brainstorming sessions preluded the exercises. During these meetings the venue and time for conducting the exercises were decided. Prior to mega mock exercise, the NDMA also conducted several capacity development programs to explicate the role and duty of all the stakeholders and synergize their coordination, while identifying the lapses and vulnerable groups. It also includes extensive media sensitization workshops for publicity and advertisement in local language to enhance the outreach. Finally, mega mock exercises were conducted in more

Training on Rapid Visual Screening
Rapid Visual Screening (RVS) is a simple, robust and cost-effective preliminary technique, with high degree of applicability, for examining the structural resilience of building for further necessary assessment [Jain et al., 2010].
However, such visual information alone cannot be used as intervention to reduce seismic vulnerability of buildings [Sinha and Goyal, 2004].

School Children Sensitizing Workshop
The education and training availed by the students in their school plays a major role in developing tangible cognizable perception [Radu, 1993;Kuroiwa, 1993 andLidstone, 1999]. Extensive school children sensitization workshops were carried out addressing large gathering of school children in all the state capitals of NE India by eminent geoscientists from the country, to make them aware about the fatal consequences of seismic hazards ( Figure   6). The workshops were carried out with the aim of imparting interactive education on Earth Science and earthquake Chandan Dey et al. Besides, the PhD researchers of GSTD, CSIR NEIST, registered under the AcSIR, are entrusted with societal projects under the aegis of which earthquake sensitization of the rural tea belt school children is regularly carried out (Figure 7). Assam is the single largest tea cultivating region in the world, constituting nearly 57% of India's total tea consumption [Tea Board of India, 2017] and growing some of the world's premium black tea [FAO, 2016].
The AcSIR curriculum mandates its PhD students to pursue the CSIR-800 Program, which is a credit-based project of about 2 months concerning with the societal and rural issues, to nurture human resources capable of acculturating research in science and technology with a conscientious bearing on social economic, cultural, intellectual and academic prosperousness of the people.

Earthquake Scenario Exercise
Simulating scenario of a previously triggered devastating earthquake helps in developing appropriate emergency response parameters while creating inferences on risk reduction measures [Bommer et al, 2000]. The scenario of the Ms 8.7, great Shillong earthquake of 1897 was simulated, considering the scale and magnitude of historical devastation attributed to the event, for the present-day dispensation. The earthquake was believed to have been triggered by the Eastern Himalayan tectonics [Seeber et al., 1981: Molnar, 1988and Gahalaut and Chander, 1992, however, recent studies have prescribed an intra-plate mechanism [Bilham and England, 2001]. was observed that the states of Nagaland, Mizoram & Arunachal Pradesh are relatively better prepared in terms of building typology, as most of the states have traditional wooden houses, to face such earthquake. While Tripura and Manipur are characterized by a good number of mud-houses constructed with large un-burnt bricks with mud mortars. These houses are quite vulnerable to earthquake ground motion [CSIR-NEIST, 2016]. It was concluded that such scenarios could provide extremely effective tools to improve the general understanding of earthquakes. Such scenarios also offer prospects for examining alternative opportunities and stimulate creative contemplation on the needs for innovative policies and programs.

Media Sensitization Campaign
The role of media for generation of earthquake awareness is monumental [Tekeli-Yeşil et al., 2014]. A series of media sensitization workshops were held which were convened by distinguished representatives of SDMA, NDMA and CSIR NEIST with the prime agenda of disseminating earthquake awareness information and encourage its mitigation preparedness. Audio-visual awareness generation campaigns were conducted in local language, apart from English, to achieve widespread coverage involving the national public broadcasting channels with the help of tagline slogans. Specially programmed, talk shows were also aired via TV networks to generate awareness on earthquake and highlighting the importance of preparedness. Pamphlet and brochures, designed by NDMA, were extensively distributed to the people, and also circulated in the form multilingual newspaper advertisements. Apart from it, poster, guide and calendar with awareness information were distributed [CSIR-NEIST, 2016].

Assessment of the activities undertaken
A realistic assessment of community earthquake awareness exercise involves meticulous observation of cognitive and behavioural development of the target audience in terms of knowledge and skills acquired and its efficient implementation during the event of an earthquake. Several assessment techniques are prescribed, by previous researchers, from observing knowledge and behavioural attributes after a suitable period of time [Karanci et al., 2005] to development of a tool for accessing earthquake risk communication [Platt et al., 2017]. Precise and sophisticated implementation of earthquake awareness with methodical interaction at schools, for instance the 'Situated Learning Episode' under the KnowRISK project [Musacchio et al., 2017], are highly feasible for assessing the orderly progress in cognizant learning and adaptability.
The activities undertaken by the said nodal agencies in NE India, however, are multifaceted and targets a broad range of audience. It is imperative to mention that these practices are largely inspired by the global trend to shift towards integrated earthquake awareness programs and most of the exercises were implemented for the first time in NE India. Therefore, the indices to gauge the enhancement of general earthquake awareness were conditioned and limited. To derive a preliminary idea of the impacts of the awareness exercises, the mega mock drill events were preceded by a series of capacity development programs, well organized road shows, media campaigns, where NDMA approved earthquake awareness and preparedness brochures were published through local newspapers and such pamphlets were extensively distributed. Mass communication media viz. FM Radio and SMS alert, community radio etc. were utilized to the optimum for larger dissemination of information regarding the mock drill and pre-mega mock exercises. The capacity development program included simulation of incident response system, tabletop exercise and rapid visual screening of buildings and structures. The widespread publicity of the mega mock drill exercise and earthquake awareness and preparedness information culminated with successful conduction of the mega mock drill exercises at 80 different locations in NE India. The robust and efficient participation of the people, including the systematic cooperation between the different stakeholders, suggest a satisfactory degree of sensitization amongst the participating mass.
The school children sensitization workshops were mostly held at a common gathering hall addressing an audience comprising of children, parents and teachers from several schools. Although, the workshops were highly interactive with rigorous question and answer sessions, no formal assessment activities were carried out. As these workshops were carried out furnishing audio-video explanations on earthquake preparation process to its occurrence in the background of the regional tectonics and seismology, apart from imparting basic earthquake awareness and preparedness guidelines, the students were visibly enthusiastic and their proactive participation in question and answer sessions indicated tangible development in their perception about earthquakes and its preparedness. Besides, the earthquake awareness societal projects carried out by the PhD researchers at CSIR NEIST, involve one-to-one interaction and questionnaires to access the improvement in cognitive understanding and behavioural traits. It is observed that the students in the urban schools are highly aware and prepared about earthquakes and pre and post assessment scores were mostly above 80% and had narrow gaps. However, the rural, government run, school students had limited perception on earthquake preparedness. With adequate training and drills, the post assessment scores were impressively high ranging beyond 70%.
The scenario exercises estimated the loss and damage that may be caused by a great earthquake which primarily were destruction of property, infrastructure, crops, temporary unemployment, business loss and social chaos, etc [CSIR-NEIST, 2016]. RVS trainees were tasked to carry out screening of a sizeable sample of buildings which were meticulously examined by experts and found to be adequately skilled in performing it and in the aftermath integrated seismic vulnerability studies were extensively carried out in NE India [Baruah et al., 2019].
Media sensitization programs were carried out via newspaper and television channels in local languages under the aegis of national experts and therefore it is safe to estimate that the concept of earthquake awareness and preparedness was meaningfully introduced and its perceptible rise in NE India was imminent. However, there were no adequate means to statistically derive the footprints and reach of these programs.

Conclusion
The study attempts to compile the multi-disciplinary awareness programme, in the form of preparedness for mitigation and optimum dissemination of scientific information primarily concerned with the non-structural components, practiced by the nodal governmental institutes of NE India -seismically one of the most vulnerable regions of the country. The approach ought to be appreciated considering the economic constraints of a developing country like India. The efforts aim in inducing and inculcating a collective sense of 'earthquake culture' to familiarize the vulnerable population of the entire region with the regular dispensations of an earthquake and encourage resilient practices so as to 'live with earthquakes'. The duty and responsibility of the emergency services and their coordination with different departments should significantly improve. However, to harness the success achieved as a result of the activities undertaken, the agencies should frequently carry out the said operations. The tasks that involve minimum expenditure may be carried out more frequently, for example once at least in six months, than the mega mock drill exercises. The agencies should encourage school authorities to incorporate earthquake awareness activities into the academic curriculum .
The initial step, involving an all-inclusive and multi-approach earthquake awareness and preparedness campaign, is certainly a huge leap towards developing an earthquake resilient society. It is imperative on the nodal agencies to further this mission by inculcating contemporary global techniques and methodologies, such as region and demography specific applications [De Lucia et al., 2020], and formulate adequate parameters to assess the positive impacts. Educational institutes are of paramount importance when it comes to disseminating a majority of awareness and preparedness activities, therefore, it is further prescribed to adopt highly intuitive techniques, involving hands on tools, emotion-driven, curiosity-driven and learn-by-playing approach [Musacchio et al., 2016;Piangiamore et al., 2015], with frequent and intensive observation.
However, the fact remains that occurrence of an earthquake akin to the, Ms 8.7, great Shillong earthquake in the present-day context would create an intensely damaging scenario chiefly due to the rapid outburst of population and haphazard urbanization with poor engineering design of most of the building constructions.
The loopholes and gaps identified by the exercises, such as availability of disaster management plan, upgradation of emergency operation centre and empowering emergency service bodies with robust instrumentation facility, should be attended urgently. Mock drill exercises should be regularly conducted in school, hospital and other such institutes, while unsafe buildings of critical lifeline importance, should be retrofitted. The competent authorities should holistically consult with the nodal agencies and the experts involved in identifying the loopholes to mandate quick and viable solutions to the prevalent situation and means to ameliorate these critical facilities. Apart from few machinery upgradations for the disaster task forces, no discernible steps have been taken by the competent authorities to iron out the core issues. Assam in NE Chandan Dey et al.