Q120
Geography (incl. West Bengal)West Bengal Geography
As per the Indian Standards Institution (ISI) most of the area of West Bengal lies under the following seismic zone:
- a.I and II
- b.II and III
- c.III and IV
- d.IV and V
Answer: (C) III and IV
Answer as of 2022 — this may have changed since.
Under the seismic zoning of the Indian Standards (IS 1893), most of West Bengal, including Kolkata, falls in Zone III, while the northern districts near the Himalayas fall in Zone IV, so (C) describes most of the state. Zone I was dropped in the 2002 revision and merged into Zone II, the lowest-risk zone. Zone V, the highest-risk zone, covers the North-East, Kashmir, Kutch and the Andaman & Nicobar Islands. Within West Bengal, only parts of Jalpaiguri and Cooch Behar districts in the far north fall in Zone V.