Experts predict more quakes in India

A US geologist says the Himalayan region could be struck by worse quakes than last week's 7.7-magnitude disaster.

Roger Bilham of the University of Colorado has taken measurements from the satellite-based Global Positioning System.

He says the Indian tectonic plate is steadily and rigidly pushing against Asia, building up pressure that usually is released by earthquakes.

Mr Bilham commented: "I'm seeing a kind of signal that a sequence of further earthquakes may be about to happen, but we could be wrong. We have no historical precedents to learn from".

He said the team of scientists he worked with estimated that more than 60% of the Himalayan region was overdue for as many as six quakes with a magnitude of 7.8 to 8.5.

The US Geological Survey's National Earthquake Information Centre in Denver considers an earthquake of magnitude 7 to 7.9 "major" and an earthquake of magnitude 8 and above "great". Both are capable of damaging or destroying buildings.

Mr Bilham says measurements over the past decade show the Indian tectonic plate is contracting by almost three millimeters each year as it presses steadily into the Asian continent.

The energy that builds from squeezing the tectonic plate can cause earthquakes.

Last week's quake was near the site of a similar temblor in 1819, and Bilham believes they are related, perhaps caused by a weak zone in the Indian plate.

Big earthquakes also occurred there in 1905, 1934 and 1950.