Worst Earthquakes in the Indian History

Worst Earthquakes in Indian History

A number of earthquakes with significantly large magnitudes have hit India. list1 includes but is not limited to:

• Cutch Earthquake of181) with a magnitude of 8.3
• Assam Earthquake of 1897
• Bihar-Nepal Earthquake of 1934 with a magnitude of 8.4
• Kangra earthquake of 1905
• Koyna Earthquake of 1967 with a magnitude of 6.5
• Uttarkashi earthquake of 1991 with a magnitude of 6.6
• Killari earthquake of 1993 with a magnitude of 6.4
• Bhuj earthquake of 2001 with a magnitude of 7.7

One of the worst Earthquakes in Indian History is the ‘Kangra Earthquake’ of 1905 (Kangra is one of the twelve districts of Himachal Pradesh – India). The Kangra earthquake occurred on 4th April 1905. The magnitude was 7.8 on the moment magnitude scale. Epicentre was somewhere in the Himalayas. It killed more than 20,000 people. Apart from this, most buildings in the towns of Kangra, Mcleodganj, and Dharamshala were damaged badly.

Another worst earthquake in India’s history – ‘The Bhuj earthquake’ of 2001 took place on January 26, 2001, at 08:46 am. The epicentre was around 9 km from the village of Chobari, kutch, Gujrat. The magnitude measured was 7.6 on the moment magnitude scale. This earthquake killed 13,805 to 20,023 people and injured another 167,000. it also destroyed nearly 340,000 buildings.

Worst Earthquake in the world

The most powerful earthquake ever recorded in the world was the “1960 Valdivia earthquake”. (Valdivia is the capital of one of the administrative divisions of ‘The Republic of Chile’). the magnitude of the Earthquake was around 9.4-9.6 on the moment magnitude scale. It lasted around 10 minutes, contrary to the usual phenomenon where most of earthquakes last only 10-15 seconds (though a series of aftershocks may follow with a lower magnitude). Epicentre was near ‘Lumaco’, 570 km south of Santiago (the capital of  The Republic of Chile). The earthquake triggered tsunamis with waves up to 25 meters. Fatalities and monetary loss can not be commented upon with exact figures.

Lessons Learnt

There are many more such disasters when we look at the history. All these earthquakes left behind lessons to be learnt. Earthquakes do not kill on their own, it is the sequelae of earthquakes like tsunamis, fires, falling debris or objects that kill people. There are some very basic things that can prove life-saving if followed like:-

• walking/ running/ trying to leave the house – should never be done during an earthquake. follow the Drop, Cover and Hold on mantra during the earthquake when the shaking has not stopped.
  • drop- drop to the ground since you may not be able to maintain your posture in an upright position while the earth is shaking and may get injured.
  • cover- after dropping to the ground, the next step is to cover yourself especially protect your head. you may take cover of the bed or hard table and if nothing is available just try to protect your head with anything around (putting a pillow, school bag etc.)
  • hold on means- stick to your shelter space till the shaking has stopped. it usually lasts a few seconds only.
• find the open secure space once the shaking has stopped, aftershocks are expected to hit.

• Try to stick to building codes issued by govt agencies while constructing new houses/ buildings.
• Mock drills on earthquakes at least once a year at home, schools and other institutions.
• Keep and maintain an Earthquake kit/ emergency kit/ first aid box.

I have already explained in detail the above topics. you can see my previous post. Spread awareness, and save lives.

references:

1. studyiq.com/articles