A large section of the Himalayan region falls in Zone V, with the highest risk of strong earthquakes

A forthcoming satellite, NISAR, jointly developed by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) of the U.S. will map the most earthquake-prone regions in the Himalayas with unprecedented regularity.

The data this will generate can potentially give advance warning of land subsidence, as recently observed in Joshimath, Uttarakhand, as well point to places that are at greatest risk from earthquakes.

The NISAR satellite, expected to cost approximately $900 million (with ISRO contributing about one-tenth) will use two frequency bands: the L-band and S-band to image the seismically active Himalayan region that will, every 12 days, create a “deformation map”, said Prakash Chauhan, Director, ISRO-National Remote Sensing Centre at a seminar here this week.