2001 Gujarat earthquake

2001 Gujarat earthquake
Date 26 January 2001 (2001-01-26)
Origin time 03:16 UTC
Magnitude 7.7 Mw[1]
Depth 16 kilometres (10 mi)
Epicenter 23°25′08″N 70°13′55″E / 23.419°N 70.232°E / 23.419; 70.232[2]
Type Oblique-slip
Areas affected India, Pakistan
Max. intensity X (Extreme)
Casualties 13,805–20,023 dead[3][4]
~ 166,800 injured[4]

The 2001 Gujarat earthquake, also known as the Bhuj earthquake, occurred on 26 January, India's 52nd Republic Day, at 08:46 AM IST and lasted for over 2 minutes. The epicentre was about 9 km south-southwest of the village of Chobari in Bhachau Taluka of Kutch District of Gujarat, India.[5][6]

The intraplate earthquake reached 7.7 on the moment magnitude scale and had a maximum felt intensity of X (Extreme) on the Mercalli intensity scale. The earthquake killed between 13,805 and 20,023 people (including 18 in southeastern Pakistan), injured another 167,000 and destroyed nearly 400,000 homes.[7][8]

Tectonic setting

Gujarat lies 300–400 km from the plate boundary between the Indian Plate and the Eurasian Plate, but the current tectonics are still governed by the effects of the continuing continental collision along this boundary. During the break-up of Gondwana in the Jurassic, this area was affected by rifting with a roughly west-east trend. During the collision with Eurasia the area has undergone shortening, involving both reactivation of the original rift faults and development of new low-angle thrust faults. The related folding has formed a series of ranges, particularly in central Kutch.[9]

The focal mechanism of most earthquakes is consistent with reverse faulting on reactivated rift faults. The pattern of uplift and subsidence associated with the 1819 Rann of Kutch earthquake is consistent with reactivation of such a fault.

The 2001 Gujarat earthquake was caused by movement on a previously unknown south-dipping fault, trending parallel to the inferred rift structures.[10][11]

Effects

The death toll in the Kutch region was 12,300. Bhuj, which was situated only 20 km away from the epicenter, was devastated. Considerable damage also occurred in Bhachau and Anjar with hundreds of villages flattened in Taluka of Anjar, Bhuj and Bhachau. Over a million structures were damaged or destroyed, including many historic buildings and tourist attractions.[12] The quake destroyed around 40% of homes, eight schools, two hospitals and 4 km of road in Bhuj, and partly destroyed the city's historic Swaminarayan temple and historic fort as well Prag Mahal and Aina Mahal. The Indian National Trust for Arts and Cultural Heritage (INTACH) inspected more than 250 heritage buildings in Kutch and Saurashtra and found that about 40% of them are either collapsed or seriously damaged. Only 10% were undamaged.[13]

In Ahmedabad, Gujarat's commercial capital with a population of 6.4 million, as many as 50 multi-story buildings collapsed and several hundred people were killed. Total property damage was estimated at $7.5 billion and rising. In Kutch, the earthquake destroyed about 60% of food and water supplies and around 258,000 houses–90% of the district's housing stock. The biggest setback was the total demolition of the Bhuj Civil hospital. The Indian military provided emergency support which was later augmented by the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Society. A temporary Red Cross hospital remained in Bhuj to provide care while a replacement hospital was built.[14]

Reconstruction

Four months after the earthquake the Gujarat government announced the Gujarat Earthquake Reconstruction and Rehabilitation Policy. The policy proposed a different approach to urban and rural construction with the estimated cost of rebuilding to be US$1.77 billion.[15]

The main objectives of the policy included repairing, building, and strengthening houses and public buildings. Other objectives included the revival of the economy, health support, and reconstruction of the community and social infrastructure.[15]

Housing

The housing policy focused on the removal of rubble, setting up temporary shelters, full reconstruction of damaged houses, and the retrofitting of undamaged units. The policy established a community-driven housing recovery process. The communities affected by the earthquake were given the option for complete or partial relocation to in-situ reconstruction.[16] The total number of eligible houses to be repaired was 929,682 and the total number of eligible houses to be reconstructed was 213,685. By 2003, 882,896 (94%) houses were repaired and 113,271 (53%) were reconstructed.[17]

City planning

The Environmental Planning Collaborative (EPC) was commissioned to provide a new city plan for the city of Bhuj.[18] The plan focused on creating a wider roadway network to provide emergency access to the city. The EPC used land readjustment (LR) in the form of eight town planning schemes.[18] This was implemented by deducting land from private lot sizes to create adequate public land for the widening of roadways.[19] The remaining land was readjusted and given back to the original owners as final plots.[18]

Relief

Relief by RSS volunteers
U.S. Air Force personnel preparing relief supplies on Feb. 3, 2001.

In order to support the reconstruction and rehabilitation of the city, the Government of Gujarat created four assistance packages worth up to US$1 billion. These packages assisted about 300,000 families. The government also announced a US$2.5 million package to revive small, medium, and cottage industries. The World Bank and the Asian Development Bank also provided loans worth $300 million and $500 million respectively.[17]

Assistance was received from many countries and organisations.

International Assistance [17]
Country Relief Given
Australia US$550,000
Bangladesh 20,000 tons of rice and a 12-member medical team
Belgium US$920,000
Canada US$2 million
China US$602,000
Greece US$270,000 in financial aid relief supplies
Israel 150 member emergency aid mission
Italy US$2.3 million for emergency equipment
Kuwait US$250,000
The Netherlands US$2.5 million through UNICEF
New Zealand US$200,000 grant
Pakistan 13 tons of relief material such as blankets and food
Syria Medical and other relief supplies
Taiwan US$100,000
United Kingdom £10 million
United States Relief supplies up to US$5 million
UAE, Vietnam, Saudi Arabia Relief material and supplies
Assistance From Organisations [17]
Organisations Relief Given
American Red Cross of Central New Jersey Grant program of US$10,000 with all proceeds going to the American Red Cross Indian Earthquake Relief Fund
CARE International Relief Materials
HelpAge India Relief materials to rural areas and Mobile Medicare Units (MMUs)
Oxfam Food distribution. shelters, temporary bathing facilities, and relief materials
The Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement £10 million, 350-bed hospital, water and sanitation units, telecommunications team, and a British Red Cross logistics team
World Health Organization US$1.2 million

Memorial

Smritivan

Smritivan, a memorial park and museum dedicated to victims of the earthquake was built atop Bhujia Hill. Total 13,805 trees dedicated to each victim were planted in the garden and 108 small water reservoirs were created on the hill.[3]

Aftermath

There is a considerable increase in all parametres of rainfall in the following years of the earthquake.[20]

See also

References

  1. ↑ M7.7 Bhuj " Republic Day " Earthquake, 2001
  2. ↑ NGDC. "Comments for the Significant Earthquake". Retrieved 27 January 2011.
  3. 1 2 Ray, Joydeep (April 16, 2004). "Gujarat to set up quake memorial in Bhuj". Business Standard.
  4. 1 2 USGS (4 September 2009), PAGER-CAT Earthquake Catalog, Version 2008_06.1, United States Geological Survey
  5. ↑ Gupta, HARSH K., et al. "Bhuj earthquake of 26 January 2001." JOURNAL-GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF INDIA 57.3 (2001): 275-278.
  6. ↑ "15 years of Gujarat earthquake: A trauma etched in Gujarat's memory - Times of India". The Times of India. Retrieved 2017-05-19.
  7. ↑ "Preliminary Earthquake Report". USGS Earthquake Hazards Program. Archived from the original on 20 November 2007. Retrieved 2007-11-21.
  8. ↑ Sen, Kavita. "Economic consequences of the Gujarat earthquake".
  9. ↑ Maurya, D. M.; Chowksey, Vikas; Patidar, A. K.; Chamyal, L. S. "A review and new data on neotectonic evolution of active faults in the Kachchh Basin, Western India: legacy of post-Deccan Trap tectonic inversion". Geological Society, London, Special Publications. 445 (1): 237–268. doi:10.1144/sp445.7.
  10. ↑ Bodin, P.; Horton S. (2004). "Source Parameters and Tectonic Implications of Aftershocks of the Mw 7.6 Bhuj Earthquake of 26 January 2001" (PDF). Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America. Seismological Society of America. 94 (3): 818–827. Bibcode:2004BuSSA..94..818B. doi:10.1785/0120030176. Retrieved 2 April 2012.
  11. ↑ Li, Qingsong; Liu, Mian; Yang, Youqing (17 March 2013). "The 01/26/2001 Bhuj, India, Earthquake: Intraplate or Interplate?". Plate Boundary Zones. American Geophysical Union. pp. 255–264. ISBN 978-1-118-67044-6. ISSN 2329-1540. doi:10.1029/gd030p0255.
  12. ↑ Interdisciplinary Observations on The January 2001 Bhuj, Gujarat Earthquake
  13. ↑ Rabindra, Vasavada,; Edmund, Booth, (2001). "Effect of the Bhuj, India earthquake of 26 January 2001 on heritage buildings". Beiträge zur Allgemeinen und Vergleichenden Archäologie. 21. ISSN 0170-9518.
  14. ↑ Eidinger, John M. (2001-01-01). Gujarat (Kutch), India, M7.7 Earthquake of January 26, 2001, and Napa M5.2 Earthquake of September 3, 2000. ASCE Publications. ISBN 9780784475065.
  15. 1 2 Jha, Abhas K. (2010-01-15). Safer Homes, Stronger Communities: A Handbook for Reconstructing after Natural Disasters. World Bank Publications. ISBN 9780821382684.
  16. ↑ Jha, Abhas K. (2010-01-15). Safer Homes, Stronger Communities: A Handbook for Reconstructing after Natural Disasters. World Bank Publications. ISBN 9780821382684.
  17. 1 2 3 4 Sinha, Anil (2003). "The Gujarat Earthquake 2001" (PDF). Asian Disaster Reduction Center. Asian Disaster Reduction Center. Retrieved 20 July 2016.
  18. 1 2 3 Byahut, Sweta (Fall 2014). "Post-Earthquake Reconstruction Planning Using Land Readjustment in Bhuj (India)". Journal of the American Planning Association. 80 (4). doi:10.1080/01944363.2014.989132 – via Academic Search Complete.
  19. ↑ Byahut, Sweta; Mittal, Jay (2016). "Using Land Readjustment in Rebuilding the Earthquake-Damaged City of Bhuj, India". Journal of Urban Planning and Development. doi:10.1061/(ASCE)UP.1943-5444.0000354.
  20. ↑ Trivedi, Parul C.; Joshi, H. P.; Parvez, Imtiyaz A. (2014). "A Preliminary Study on Rainfall Pattern before and after the January 26, 2001 Bhuj Earthquake (Mw 7.7) over Kachchh Region of Western Peninsular, India". International Journal of Geosciences. Scientific Research Publishing, Inc,. 05 (10): 1080–1087. ISSN 2156-8359. doi:10.4236/ijg.2014.510092.
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