Earthquake safety: drop, cover, hold — and what to do in the hour after

The National Center for Seismology, under the Ministry of Earth Sciences, publishes earthquake guidance free to the public. It splits into three stages.

Which zone Assam is in

Under IS 1893:2016, the Bureau of Indian Standards code currently in force, Assam falls in Zone V — the highest of the four categories on the seismic zoning map. The 1950 Assam earthquake, at magnitude 8.6, remains the strongest ever recorded in India.

There is a wrinkle worth knowing if you read about this elsewhere. In November 2025 the BIS issued a revised code, IS 1893:2025, which introduced a new Zone VI covering the Himalayan arc and the Northeast. It was withdrawn after the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs raised concerns about construction cost escalation and insufficient consultation, and IS 1893:2016 was restored. So Zone V is the current answer, and anything you read describing Assam as Zone VI is describing a standard that is no longer in effect.

Before

Follow building codes when you build, and get a structural engineer’s view rather than a mason’s. Make an emergency plan your household actually knows. Work out in advance which rescue resources are near you. Secure the heavy things: “Heavy objects, glasses, cutlery should be kept on lower shelves.”

During

Stay composed. Indoors, take cover under sturdy furniture or in a doorway and hold on. Outdoors, move to open ground away from buildings and wires.

If you are in a moving vehicle: “stop as quickly as possible and stay in the vehicle.”

Do not light a flame. Do not use the lift. And in a crowded building, the stampede is often the greater danger — move, but do not run.

After

Keep a radio or phone on for official broadcasts. Help the injured. Expect aftershocks, and treat the first one as a signal to get clear of damaged structures rather than back into them.

Two specifics worth memorising about gas: “Close the valve of the kitchen gas stove, if it is on. If it is closed, do not open it.” And if you suspect a leak, do not touch electrical switches — a spark is the ignition source.