Harsh K. Gupta is a Member of the Atomic Energy Regulatory Board (India) and President of the Geological Society of India. The previous positions held by him include Member, National Disaster Management Authority (India); Secretary to the Government of India, Department of Ocean Development; Director, National Geophysical Research Institute, Hyderabad; Vice Chancellor, Cochin University of Science and Technology and a Professor at the University of Texas at Dallas, USA.
His work on artificial water reservoir-triggered earthquakes and developing criteria to distinguish them from normal earthquakes is globally recognized. He chaired the Steering Committee of the Global Seismic Hazard Program. After the disastrous 2004 Sumatra earthquake, he established the Indian Tsunami Early Warning system.
His publications include over 200 articles; 5 books; and the Editor in Chief of the Encyclopedia of Solid Earth Geophysics by Springer (2011 and second edition 2021). Awards and recognitions include the Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize; Waldo E. Smith Medal of AGU; the Axford Gold Medal of the Asia Oceania Geosciences Society (AOGS) and the National Mineral Award of Excellence. He has been President of the IUGG, the AOGS and is the Founder President of the Asian Seismological Commission, and Foreign Member of the Russian Academy of Sciences.