Orissa

The Indian Gujarat Earthquake 26 January 2001

Case Study

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The Earthquake |

On 26 January 2001 an earthquake registering 7.9 on the Richter scale devastated the Indian state of Gujurat. It was the second largest recorded earthquake in India, the largest being in 1737, and was the worst natural disaster in India in more than 50 years.

The earthquake struck at approximately 8.46am local time, its epicentre located 80 kilometres north-east of the city of Bhuj (see Figure 1). The place in the earth's crust where an earthquake occurs is known as the focus. The epicentre of an earthquake is the place directly above the focus. The shock waves or tremors from the Gujurat earthquake lasted about two minutes, followed by aftershocks for more than a month.

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Figure 1 - Map showing the Gujarat earthquake epicentre |

The Impact |

The scale of the impact of the earthquake is almost impossible to comprehend. The shock or seismic waves spread out in a 700 kilometre circumference from the epicentre, and within this area the devastation was immense. There were more than 20,000 deaths and 167,000 people injured. Four districts of Gujurat lay in ruin and altogether, 21 districts were affected.

Around 300,000 families and at least 3 million children aged 14 and under were affected. Around 600,000 people were left homeless. In the city of Bhuj, more than 3,000 inhabitants of the city lost their lives, the main hospital was crushed and close to 90% of the buildings was destroyed. Nothing was left of the town of Bhachau. The town resembled a quarry. Few structures remained standing.

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Figure 2 - Devastation in Bhuj, near the epicentre |

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There was significant damage to infrastructure with facilities such as hospitals, schools, electric power and water systems, bridges and roads damaged or destroyed. The extent of the damage can be...