Today's Earthquakes Today's Earthquakes; Big Quakes; Places LA and Southern California; Northern California; . Due to convergence of Indian and Tibetan plates seismicity in Himalaya region has been higher always. 1a, b) and PGA-European Macroseismic Scale (EMS, Grnthal 1998) relation. Whereas areas like Dhankuta, Sindhupalchowk, Rasuwagadhi, Chainpur, Taplejung also suffered damage. (2013). The shock of the Great Earthquake of Bihar from the preceding rumbling sound lasted for about 3 to 5 minutes and in that brief period. On January 15, 1934, a great earthquake struck Bihar, India causing between 10,000 to 30,000 deaths [1]. About two hundred million years ago an ocean separated India from the rest of Eurasia. Journal of Geophysical Research Solid Earth, 119(9), 71237163. New observations disagree with previous interpretations of surface rupture along the himalayan frontal thrust during the great 1934 Bihar-Nepal earthquake. Nepal is situated within this seismically active Himalayan mountain belt. (2020). Seismicity of earth and associated phenomenon (2nd ed.). Nepal Ko Maha Bhukampa (The Great Earthquake of Nepal) (pp. As it was felt that what was needed after the Earthquake that the drainage of the sub-soil water should be properly guided the Tirthut Waterways Division came into being. Post earthquake aggradation processes to hide surface ruptures in thrust systems: The M8.3, 1934, Bihar-Nepal earthquake ruptures at Charnath Khola (Eastern Nepal). Everest. [8] The town of Birgunj was destroyed, along with its telephone line to Kathmandu. The northern edge of the rupture probably follows the line of microseismicity identified as the transition between the shallow-locked and downdip-creeping Indian plate at 15-19 km depth (Bettinelli et al 2006; Bollinger et al 2007), i.e. Bihar Earthquake, 1934. Its rupture length was estimated to be 1,200 miles. Current Science, 69, 101127. 483, pp. Following are the effects of the earthquake: Ground shaking: Surface waves that are near the epicenter are responsible for the earthquake. Soc. India Memoir. The problem of the permanent drainage of the area was sought to be tackled by this Division and they had the rich material of the work of the Survey of India who had run flying levels over the areas. The damage caused by the Bihar earthquake of 15 January, 1934, measuring 8.4 on Richter scale, include 10,700 human deaths, landslides and slumping in an area of 250 km length and 60 km width, ruptures and faults in the ground surface etc. Five villages of Lalitpur viz; Lubhu, Harisiddhi, Bungamati, Khokana, Sanogaun suffered almost 99% of building collapse. Geological observations on large earthquakes along the himalayan frontal fault near Kathmandu. There is evidence that even larger events have occurred in the past, and geodetic and seismic monitoring show that stress is accumulating now. Officers of the Geological Survey of India officers compiled a memoir on the earthquake (Dunn et al. Also, the strong emphasis on the destruction in India left the impression that epicenter of 1934 Bihar-Nepal earthquake laid not within the Himalaya but south of the range, in the plains of India. Required fields are marked *. In G. J. Schenk (Ed. Most of the damage was due to slumping, fissuring and tilting of the ground.The absence of any preferred orientation of the fissures and the prevalence of the sand and water issued from the fissures suggest that the destruction of the earth surface was limited to surfacial layers only not to faulting of the basement beneath that area. Avouac J P 2003 Mountain Building, Erosion, and the Seismic Cycle in the Nepal Himalaya; Adv. [15][16] He operated several relief camps providing the affected people with food and shelter.[17]. Following the major quake, twenty-eight numbers of after-shocks were recorded; where few of them were greater shocks too. Everest. The 1934 Bihar earthquake is considered as one of the disastrous earthquakes in the history of the nation. (M 6.9) Res. Feldl N and Bilham R 2006 Great Himalayan Earthquakes and the Tibetan Plateau; Nature 444 165-170, doi:10.1038/nature05199. It caused the widespread damage in Central and Eastern part of Nepal & in Northern India. Overcoming the odds How Babur Arafat brought Pride to India. National Institute of Advanced Studies, Bengaluru, Karnataka, India, Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru, Karnataka, India, You can also search for this author in 2023 Springer Nature Switzerland AG. natural hazards. Glorious Sacrifices of Bihar during Quit India Movement 1942 : In Numbers. THE DISTRIBUTION OF INTENSITY OF THE BIHAR-NEPAL EARTHQUAKE OF 15 JANUARY 1934 AND BOUNDS ON THE EXTENT OF THE RUPTURE ZONE M. R. Pandey* and Peter Molnar ** ABSTRACT We have recompiled the descriptions of damage and destruction caused by the 15 January 1934 Bihar-Nepal earthquake, given by both Dunn et al. In Purnea the cast iron piles of a bridge between the civil lines and the railway station were broken. Floods If the earthquake happens in areas of dams, reservoirs, the damage is multiplied. [5] In Rajnagar, near Madhubani, all the Kutcha buildings collapsed. excessive rain during the earthquakes cause damage to the bridges. 1. In Patna, many buildings in the bazaar were destroyed and damage was particularly severe along the river. Superintendent, Government Printing, Bihar and Orissa, Patna, 1935. Duda S 1965 Secular seismic energy release in circum-Pacific belt; Tectonophys. Seismol. It is unlikely that these are the only times that the area was shaken and further similar studies are likely to be of great value. This indicates that adequate structural design is the key to reduce the earthquake risk in Nepal. Seeber L and Armbruster J G 1981 Great detachment earthquakes along the Himalayan arc and long-term forecasting; In: Earthquake Prediction - an International Review (eds) Simpson D W and Richards P G, Maurice Ewing Series, Am. 1st English edition. Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter what matters in science, free to your inbox daily. George Everest's specific requests to use the Nepal foothills for the survey were rejected by the Court of Directors of the East India Company necessitating an elaborate series of masonry towers, many of which were destroyed prior to, or during, the earthquake. Ambraseys, N., & Douglas, J. J. In H. J. Couchman (Ed. (Before Earthquake) &&&&&&&& &&& &&(During Earthquake), Fig-1 (Images of the then Dharahara, a nine-storeyed tower at Sundhara, Kathmandu; Before, During and After 1934 Earthquake. Large paleoearthquake timing and displacement near Damak in eastern Nepal on the Himalayan frontal thrust. 3. Martin, S., & Szeliga, W. (2010). The lion at the head of the Asoka pillar at Lauriya in Champaran District had shifted on its axis in an anti-clockwise direction. Brett,W.B. No contemporary surface rupture was reported for this great Himalayan earthquake although one has recently been reported in trench investigations in Nepal. Earthquake recurrence and rupture dynamics of Himalayan frontal thrust, India. You can also search for this author in In our field survey, 46 % of buildings were totally collapsed and 16 % were partially collapsed. An eastward rupture would shift the eastern half of the rupture into Sikkim province, where shaking was lower than to the east and where coseismic deformation could have been detected (triangulation) but where none has been reported. 1934-01-15 08:43:25 UTC 8.0 magnitude, 15 km depth Lahn, Eastern Region, Nepal 8.0 magnitude earthquake 1934-01-15 08:43:25 UTC at 08:43 January 15, 1934 UTC 1934-01-15 08:43:25 UTC at 08:43 January 15, 1934 UTC Location: Epicenter at 26.885, 86.589 19.2 km from Lahn (12.2 miles) Nepal India Border . 13-National Earthquake Safety Day, 2011, Nepal. Presently, he works as a freelance/ independent history researcher, writer and works at www.awazthevoice.in, On January, 15th, 1934, at about 2.13 p.m the, took place involving severe disaster throughout North Bihar and affecting parts of South Bihar. Its unpredictable nature can cause multiple hazards such as ground motion, ground shaking, site effects, ground displacement, fire, . The 7.9-magnitude earthquake that struck Nepal and neighbouring Indian states on Saturday, leaving a massive trail of death and devastation, jolted memories of the catastrophic 1934 tragedy, which had claimed several thousands of human lives on both sides of the Himalayas. Around 4.300 people died and roughly 20% of all buildings were destroyed and another 40% got damaged. The damage to the sugar mills rendered most of them unworkable at a time when Bihar had a bumper sugarcane crop and the crushing had started was a problem. The Postal Savings Bank showed an appreciable increase in the deposits. Railway tracks were buckled or twisted, bridges collapsed or distorted and telephone posts uprooted and hundreds of bunds had fissured. Lave, J., Yule, D., Sapkota, S. N., Basant, K., Madden, C., Attal, M., & Pandey, R. (2005). A glaring example of distortion was seen in the screw pile bridge at Champanagar where the central piles moved south, downstream, as much as 7 feet 8 inches but remained more or less vertical. Zones like Dharan, Sindhuli, Udayapur and Bhojpur were severely damaged. ISSN 1476-4687 (online) the Kinnaur earthquake (1975), Dharam . [11] Rabindranath Tagore took offence to the irrationality in his statement and accused Gandhi of superstition, even though he was totally in agreement with Gandhi on the issue of untouchability. The failures at Seward, Alaska, during the 1964 earthquake are an example. Even in Bihar province, affected parts were northern and central areas. Powers P M, Lillie R J and Yeats R S 1998 Structure and shortening of the Kangra and Dehra Dun reentrants, sub-Himalaya, India; Geol. However buildings built on Bedrock survived well than those built on unconsolidated sedimentary deposit available at most part of the valley. Geological society (Vol. [6], In Muzaffarpur, sand fissures erupted at several places in town. [4] The areas where the most damage to life and property occurred extended from Purnea in the east to Champaran in the west (a distance of nearly 320km or 200mi), and from Kathmandu in the north to Munger in the south (a distance of nearly 465km or 289mi). Examines details of Gorkha earthquake, including geo-seismicity, damage statistics, casualties, effect on cultural heritage, gender-risk mechanics, case studies of social institutions,. Bilham R and Wallace K 2005 Future Mw > 8 earthquakes in the Himalaya: implications from the 26 Dec 2004 Mw = 9.0 earthquake on Indias eastern plate margin; Geol. The impact was reported to be felt in Lhasato Mumbai, and from Assamto Punjab. On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. Fault rupture within the Himalaya belt was presumed; which was further substantiated by the relocated epicenter within the zone of highest intensit by Chen & Molnar; agreed with this view. 34 L08304, doi:10.1029/2006GL029192. Pandey, M. R., & Molnar, P. (1988). You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. The intensity of ground shaking depends on the duration, local geology, and distance. The size of the area affected by earthquake-induced landslides depends on the magnitude of the earthquake, its focal depth, the topography and geologic conditions near the causative fault, and the amplitude, frequency composition, and duration of ground shaking. 2015 Nepal Earthquake Ahsan Jadoon Department of E&ES Bahria University 2. Hough, S., & Bilham, R. (2008). 6 85-98. Your email address will not be published. According to the National Centre for Seismology, the tremors measured 3.5 on the Richter scale and were felt around 9.23 pm. The devastating quake of 8.3-magnitude on Richter scale that fateful day . Wu F, Sheehan A, Huang G C and Monsalve G 2003 Source mechanisms, seismicity, and velocity structures in the Himalayan region; Indo-US Workshop on Seismicity and Geodynamics 49 Hyderabad. Sci. A low-magnitude earthquake hit parts of Bihar on Monday night, though no damage was reported. For this reason the earthquake appears on many maps in the the wrong location (almost 200 km too far south).The reason for this was partly due to its misleading early instrumental location, partly due to the sedimentary basin amplification of seismic waves south of the epicenter, which resulted in massive damage near the Ganges, and partly due to the exclusion of foreigners from Nepal (1815 to 1950) which lead to much of the damage in Nepal in not being recognized. Petroleum exploration in Nepal. 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