Kohima, Nov. 13: The fact that the Northeast has not experienced a major earthquake since 1950 does not mean that the region can relax, said renowned seismologist Harsh Gupta said in an exclusive interview to The Telegraph today.

The former ocean development secretary said while earthquakes cannot be predicted, it is notable that a lot of time has elapsed since the Assam quake of 1950, measuring 8.9 on the Richter scale, which had claimed the lives of thousands.

The earthquakes of 1897 and 1950 indicated that the Northeast is in the highly dangerous, zone V of the world seismic map.

The Northeast is located in the Eastern Himalaya syntaxis and the Indo-Burmese arc: the meeting place of the earth?s plates in the region.

?A quake may not occur in the next 10 years or it may occur in the next hour, we cannot say. But there is no doubt, it will come,? warned Gupta.

The scientist had made a medium-term forecast for the region and that had proved right with an earthquake in 1988.

Following the Pakistan quake, the Church in Nagaland issued a warning to the people and appealed to all to pray that if in case there is an earthquake it may be of a milder intensity.

Gupta said it was fine to pray, but not advisable to mix religion with science. ?If prayers could help there would not be any earthquakes,? he said.

Talking about the government?s efforts on dealing with disasters, Gupta said apart from a disaster management policy, mostly on paper and a few seminars on disaster management, the Nagaland government has done nothing to prevent a tragedy if a quake does hit the state.

The former director of National Geophysical Research Institute in Hyderabad and vice-president of Geological Society of India, Gupta had made a keynote address on seismology this week at the inauguration of the GSI national seminar here.

Expressing concern on the present trend of construction in the hills, Gupta said simpler buildings with reinforcements for earthquake resistance should be ensured in the region.

He also suggested simple methods such as steel crosses on the walls that help resist horizontal force preventing walls from caving in.

He warned that those sleeping beneath concrete roofs topped on mud walls have little chance of survival.

He urged the governments in the Northeast states to come together and educate people on how to react in case of a disaster.

Emphasising the education of teachers and children, Gupta said they should know how to react if a quake strikes when children are in school.