Earthquake Loss Estimation for India Based on Macroeconomic Indicators

Preliminary results from the 2001 India census indicate that the population is now 1,027,015,247 [1], making India the second most populous country in the world [2]. The United Nations projects that by the year 2050, India will be the most populated country in the world with over 1.5 billion people [2]. India has also experienced some of the most devastating earthquakes ever recorded. Examples of earthquakes within the last 100 years and numbers of fatalities and damage are listed in Table 1 [3]. To reduce deaths and economic loss from earthquakes in India, it is important to understand where areas of high population density and high seismic hazard intersect.