ISSN 0028-0836 (print). 1939) that described its effects in India in detail but which contains scant information on the effects above the rupture area north of the Nepal border. Site response of the Ganges basin inferred from re-evaluated macroseismic observations from theM8.1 Shillong 1897, M7.8 Kangra 1905 and 1934Nepal M 8.1 earthquakes. Causes behind Misinterpretation in location of Epicenter. The Historic Nepal - Bihar earthquake measuring M 8.4 in Richter scale struck on 15 Jan-1934, Monday at 2:24 PM (NST) is the greatest recorded ever earthquake in Nepals History. Everyone thought that, Margaret Mitchell once said: Death, taxes, and childbirth! 73 1-391. In few cases, buildings were subsided by 3-4 feet too. Kumar, S., Wesnousky, S. G., Jayangondaperumal, R., Nakata, T., Kumahara, Y., & Singh, V. (2010). Thank you for visiting nature.com. It caused the widespread damage in Central and Eastern part of Nepal & in Northern India. ISSN 1476-4687 (online) The Kesariya Stupa in the town of Bihar was reduced 6 m in height to 35 m by the 1934 earthquake. Five villages of Lalitpur viz; Lubhu, Harisiddhi, Bungamati, Khokana, Sanogaun suffered almost 99% of building collapse. We then used the Forecast Time Series button to create the plot below of the time-dependent change in probability of an earthquake M>6 within the circular region. excessive rain during the earthquakes cause damage to the bridges. Bollinger, L., Sapkota, S. N., Tapponnier, P., Klinger, Y., Rizza, M., Van Der Woerd, J., Tiwari, D. R., Pandey, R., Bitri, A., & Bes de Berc, S. (2014). Yeats, R. S., & Thakur, V. C. (2008). Using the above reasoning we constrain the 1934 western edge of the Nepal rupture to 85.5 +/- 0.2 degrees East and its western edge to 87.0 +/- 0.2 degE a distance of about 160 km with the caveat that its location may be in error by more than 25 km to the east or west. The human casualty in Monghyr was very severe. Geol. Journal of Asian Earth Sciences. Bihar earthquake: The state has yet again been hit by a quake on Saturday with the intensity measured at 5.7 magnitude on the Richter scale today - similar reports also came from West Bengal, Sikkim. In the light of the increased population today, compared with 1934, the death toll would likely be 22,000 and the number of injured 25,000. Surv. Most of the buildings in Muzzafarpur were damaged. 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 and JavaScript. In: Survey of India Geodetic Report 1936, (eds). Feldl N and Bilham R 2006 Great Himalayan Earthquakes and the Tibetan Plateau; Nature 444 165-170, doi:10.1038/nature05199. Pilots flyng over the meizoseismal area reported great changes in topography; this was largely due to enormous slides, some of which were photographed. A catalog of felt intensity data for 589 earthquakes in India, 16362008. Sukhija, B. S., Rao, M. N., Reddy, D. V., Nagabhushanam, P., Kumar, D., Lakshmi, B. V., & Sharma, P. (2002). According to the National Centre for Seismology, the tremors measured 3.5 on the Richter scale and were felt around 9.23 pm. Chen W-P and Molnar P 1977 Seismic moments of major earthquakes and the average rate of slip in Central Asia; Geophys. These seven martyrs wrote history of freedom with their blood in Patna. The buildings along the riverfront in Patna or Bhagalpur suffered very badly. Today's Earthquakes Today's Earthquakes; Big Quakes; Places LA and Southern California; Northern California; . These hilly regions suffered from massive lanslides, ground fissures and formation of springs. Required fields are marked *. This indicates that adequate structural design is the key to reduce the earthquake risk in Nepal. The first was its basic . Wesnousky, S. G., Kumahara, Y., Chamlagain, D., Pierce, I. K., Karki, A., & Gautam, D. (2017a). 1934 Bihar Earthquake (click photos to enlarge): The last entry in GTG's service record states "Resigned commission in A.I.R.O. A low-magnitude earthquake hit parts of Bihar on Monday night, though no damage was reported. The clock in the tower of the Secretariat stopped at 2.16 p.m. Did Trump Ruin America for Good? L. Fermor. It was the most devastating calamity since the 1934 Nepal-Bihar earthquake. Additionally, Devastatingdisasters.com participates in various other affiliate programs, and we sometimes get a commission through purchases made through our links. Based on these evidences, it was concluded that the rupture zone; hypocenter and thereby the epicenter laid beneath the lesser Himalayas and not beneath the plains of northern India. (5.2 MB PDF) Downloads. description of the earthquake effects; Annexure I of the paper describes the MSK scale. [7] In Jharia the earthquake led to further spread of underground fire. Nature Geoscience, 6, 7176. Geophysical Research Letters, 45, 26522658. No precise geodetic measurements were in place across the 1934 rupture area due to Nepal's political isolation in 1850 when the Trigonometrical Survey of India was in progress. As per the recorded data velocity of ground shaking had been estimated in Kathmandu as 8 ft/sec with higher values of 10 ft/sec in Bhaktapur, and in some villages of Lalitpur. 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. Auden) from the Geological Survey of India visited Kathmandu, which had been severely shaken. In Purnea the cast iron piles of a bridge between the civil lines and the railway station were broken. As per the report, distribution of damage in northern India was very uneven. Earth quake cause landslides f Effects Seismic sea waves (TUSNAMIS) f Effects Damage to human life and structures f Effects Faults, thrust and folds f Other Effects More devastating fires Change in surface drainage and underground circulation of water Depression forming lakes fDistribution f Distribution About 60 % of all Internet Explorer). Sci. On January, 15th, 1934, at about 2.13 p.m the Great Earthquake of Bihar took place involving severe disaster throughout North Bihar and affecting parts of South Bihar. Active strike-slip faults and an outer frontal thrust in the Himalayan foreland basin. There was a serious earthquake in Bihar in 1934, the devastating effects of which GTG captured by photograph in great detail. Rana, B. S. (1935). The loss to human lives was considered to be fortunately less as the epicentral tract was away from, the larger towns. Almeida, V., Hubbard, J., Liberty, L., Foster, A., & Sapkota, S. N. (2018). Earthquake recurrence and rupture dynamics of Himalayan frontal thrust, India. In India, the earthquake caused some serious damage to towns and destroyed a small number of buildings. (2016). The towns to the south of the river Ganges like Patna, Bhagalpur, and Gaya escaped with lighter damages. ), Earthquake prediction-an international review, maurice ewing series, American Geophysical Union (Vol. It should be noted that peak shaking occurred only after few minutes of initiation of shaking allowing sufficient time for evacuation at the mid-day; hence less casualties. The 1934 NepalIndia earthquake or 1934 BiharNepal earthquake was one of the worst earthquakes in India's history. Gutenberg, B., & Richter, C. F. (1954). A., Auden, J. January 1934 earthquake in India andNepal. Earthq. Ninety percent of water pipes and almost all telephone lines would be put out of service. Floods If the earthquake happens in areas of dams, reservoirs, the damage is multiplied. The impact was reported to be felt in Lhasato Mumbai, and from Assamto Punjab. 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. Damages & Casualties were reported to be higher in Nepal than in India. Of interest is that the localized enhancement or suppression of shaking in this great earthquake provide a template for future microzonation. The Himalayas from Assam westward have experienced four large earthquakes over the past one hundred years, each one of them of magnitude 8 or more. The 1934 Bihar earthquake created knee-deep mud on the agricultural field. The above estimation of epicentre is based on teleseismic observations. In H. J. Couchman (Ed. Bilham, R. (1995). Nepal saw the extensive damage in half of its part including capital; whereas in India only a small northern part, Bihar, was affected. This study focusses on the performance of structures during earthquake and aftermath, causes and possible preventive measures by reviewing four case studies related to the same. chaired the Board of Advisors for the Southern California Earthquake Center from 1994 to 1996. These effects are discussed in detail by Hough and Bilham (2008). 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 about 10,000 persons were killed and extensive damages to buildings, roads, bridges, railway tracks and cultivation fields were caused. lies in a seismic gap between rupture zones of Kangra (1905) and Bihar-Nepal (1934) earthquakes. Nepals only international airport would be inaccessible. Lett. The earthquake was so severe that in Kolkata, around 650 km (404 mi) from epicenter, many buildings were damaged and the tower of St. Paul's Cathedral collapsed. The failures at Seward, Alaska, during the 1964 earthquake are an example. 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. Paleoseismic evidence of great surface rupture earthquakes along the Indian himalaya. Petroleum exploration in Nepal. - 1st January, 1930". In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles Geophys. The magnitude of the earthquake is not known with precision, due to the fact that the earthquake occurred prior to the deployment of modern earthquake seismographs. Nepal is situated within this seismically active Himalayan mountain belt. Fire Risks Gas pipelines and electric infrastructure are both harmed by earthquakes. This mountainous region is one of the most seismically active continental areas on earth. Large himalayan frontal thrust paleoearthquake at Khayarmara in Eastern Nepal. The epicenter of the earthquake was in Nepal six miles south of Mt. : , . [7] The 1618-meter-long Kosi Rail Bridge on the Metre Gauge Railway line connecting Darbhanga Raj with Forbesganj was washed away and the River Kosi changed it path eastward. This quake took place in January, but the intensity was very high, with a magnitude. Seismicity of the earth and associated phenomena. All the kutcha (ramshackle) buildings collapsed, while other pukka (solidly built) buildings suffered damage due to sinking and cracking of the ground.[5]. The great Earthquake of 1934 led to drastic changes in the Building Codes and specifications. This 8.0 magnitude earthquake occurred on 15 January 1934 at around 2:13pm IST (08:43 UTC) and caused widespread damage in northern Bihar and in Nepal. B., Ghosh, A. M. N., & Wadia, D. N. (1939). Everest. Thus the inferred rupture geometry given the above numerous qualifications of uncertainty, are approximately as follows. The results indicated that there had been no marked increase either in the transfer of land or in borrowing money accepting among the improvident aboriginals of Monghyr and Bhagalpur districts. The great 1934 Himalayan earthquake of moment magnitude (Mw) 8.1 generated a large zone of ground failure and liquefaction in north Bihar, India, in addition to the earthquakes of 1833 (Mw ~7.7) and. 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. Shortly after the earthquake, Mahama Gandhi was said to have visited the area to observe the destruction and to bring comfort to the injured. Ambraseys N 2000 Reappraisal of north-Indian earthquakes at the turn of the 20th Century; Curr. Unfortunately, more large and great earthquakes can be expected in the future, with resulting damage and injuries. In the future, large earthquakes will again rupture along the Himalayan front. The clock in the tower of the Secretariat stopped at 2.16 p.m. CrossRef Hough, S., and R. Bilham, (2008). It resulted in a huge death toll and caused extensive destruction to buildings and infrastructure both in the central-eastern Nepal and the adjacent parts of India. 2022 Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. Rajendran, C.P., Rajendran, K. (2022). 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