1905 Kangra earthquake

The 1905 Kangra earthquake occurred in the Kangra Valley and the Kangra region of the Punjab Province (modern day Himachal Pradesh) in India on 4 April 1905. The earthquake measured 7.8 on the surface wave magnitude scale and killed more than 20,000 people. Apart from this, most buildings in the towns of Kangra, Mcleodganj and Dharamshala were destroyed.[7][8][9]

1905 Kangra earthquake
1905 Kangra earthquake is located in India
1905 Kangra earthquake
UTC time1905-04-04 00:50:00
ISC event16957848
USGS-ANSSComCat
Local date4 April 1905 (1905-04-04)
Local timeEarly morning
Magnitude7.8 Ms[1]
Epicenter33.0°N 76.0°E / 33.0; 76.0[2]
FaultMain Himalayan Thrust
Areas affectedColonial India
Max. intensityIX (Destructive)[3]
X (Extreme)[4][5]
Casualties>20,000[2][1][6]

Background

The calculated epicenter of the earthquake lies within the zone of thrusts along the front of the Himalayas formed by the continuing collision of the Indian plate into the Eurasian plate.[10] Underthrusting of the Indian subcontinent beneath Tibet along a 2,500 km long convergent boundary known as the Main Himalayan Thrust has resulted in the uplifting of the overriding Eurasian Plate thus, creating the long mountain range parallel to the convergent zone.[11]

Earthquake characteristics

The magnitude 7.8–7.9 earthquake struck the western Himalaya in the state of Himachal Pradesh at an estimated depth of 6 km along a very shallow dipping thrust fault, likely on the Main Himalayan Thrust detachment. The rupture area is calculated at 280 km × 80 km.[12] The rupture did not reach the surface, therefore, is considered a blind thrust earthquake.[12] A more recent study in 2005 estimated the rupture zone at 110 km × 55 km while still not breaking the surface.[13]

Damage

The earthquake reached its peak Rossi–Forel intensity of X in Kangra. About 150 km away from this zone to the southeast, an area of increased intensity reaching VIII was recorded. This unusually high intensity away from the earthquake in the Indo-Gangetic Plain included the cities Dehradun and Saharanpur. It was felt VII in towns like Kasauli, Bilaspur, Chamba, and Lahore.[14]

As many as 100,000 buildings were reported to have been demolished by the earthquake. At least 20,000 people are estimated to have been killed and 53,000 domestic animals were also lost. There was also major damage to the network of hillside aqueducts that fed water to the affected area. The total cost of recovering from the effects of the earthquake was calculated at 2.9 million (1905) rupees.[1]

See also

References
  1. Ambraseys, N.; Bilham, R. (2000). "A note on the Kangra Ms = 7.8 earthquake of 4 April 1905" (PDF). Current Science. Current Science Association. 79 (1): 45–50. Archived from the original (PDF) on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 9 January 2014.
  2. Utsu, T. R. (2002), "A List of Deadly Earthquakes in the World: 1500–2000", International Handbook of Earthquake & Engineering Seismology, Part A, Volume 81A (First ed.), Academic Press, p. 702, ISBN 978-0124406520
  3. Martin, S.; Szeliga, W. (2010), "A Catalog of Felt Intensity Data for 570 Earthquakes in India from 1636 to 2009", Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America, Electronic Supplement (table S2), Seismological Society of America, 100 (2): 562–569, Bibcode:2010BuSSA.100..562M, doi:10.1785/0120080328, archived from the original on 12 November 2016, retrieved 19 February 2017
  4. Sharma, B.; Chopra, S.; Kumar, V. (2016). "Simulation of strong ground motion for 1905 Kangra earthquake and a possible megathrust earthquake (Mw 8.5) in western Himalaya (India) using Empirical Green's Function technique". Natural Hazards. 80: 487–503. doi:10.1007/s11069-015-1979-0. S2CID 129961165. Retrieved 18 March 2021.
  5. Ghosh GK, Mahajan AK (2013). "Intensity attenuation relation at Chamba–Garhwal area in north-west Himalaya with epicentral distance and magnitude" (PDF). Journal of Earth System Science. 122 (1): 107–122. Bibcode:2013JESS..122..107G. doi:10.1007/s12040-012-0261-z. S2CID 140177028. Retrieved 18 March 2021.
  6. "The Kangra Earthquake of April 4, 1905". Nature. 73 (1896): 418–419. 1 March 1906. Bibcode:1906Natur..73..418.. doi:10.1038/073418a0. S2CID 26641327.
  7. Dharamsala Earthquake 1905 – Images
  8. History Archived 2007-12-21 at the Wayback Machine Kangra district Official website.
  9. Earthquakes The Imperial Gazetteer of India, v. 1, p. 98.
  10. Wallace, K.; Gaur, V.; Blume, F.; Hough, S.; Bilham, R., Geodetic Study of the Kangra Earthquake 1905 (PDF)
  11. Jade, S., Shrungeshwara, T.S., Kumar, K. (2017). "India plate angular velocity and contemporary deformation rates from continuous GPS measurements from 1996 to 2015". Scientific Reports. 7 (1): 11439. Bibcode:2017NatSR...711439J. doi:10.1038/s41598-017-11697-w. PMC 5595902. PMID 28900236.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  12. Gahalaut, V.K., Gupta, P.K., Chander, R. (1994). "Minimum norm inversion of observed ground elevation changes for slips on the causative fault during the 1905 Kangra earthquake". Proceedings of the Indian Academy of Sciences – Earth and Planetary Sciences. 103 (3): 401–411. Bibcode:1994JESS..103..401G. doi:10.1007/BF02841529. S2CID 127752208. Retrieved 18 March 2021.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  13. Bilham R, Wallace K (2005). "Future Mw 8 earthquake in Himalaya: Implication for the 26 December, 2004 M = 9 earthquake on eastern margin". Geological Survey India. 85: 1–14.
  14. "Significant Earthquake Information INDIA: KANGRA". NGDC NCEI. NCEI. Retrieved 18 March 2021.

Further reading
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