1803 Garhwal earthquake
  | |
| Local date | 1 September 1803 |
|---|---|
| Local time | 01:30[1] |
| Magnitude | Mw7.8 ± 0.2 |
| Epicenter | 30°39′22″N78°47′02″E/ 30.656°N 78.784°E |
| Fault | Main Himalayan Thrust |
| Type | Thrust(Blind) |
| Areas affected | India&Pakistan |
| Max.intensity | MMI IX (Violent) MSK-64 X (Devastating) |
| Casualties | 200–300 dead |
The1803 Garhwal earthquakeoccurred in the early morning of September 1 at 01:30local time.The estimated 7.8-magnitude-earthquake had an epicenter in theGarhwal HimalayanearUttarkashi,British India.Major damage occurred in the Himalaya andIndo-Gangetic Plain,with the loss of between 200 and 300 lives.[2]It is among the largest Himalaya earthquakes of the 19th-century, caused bythrust faulting.
Tectonic setting[edit]
The Himalaya is located at theconvergent boundarywhere active convergence leads tocontinental collision.The India and Eurasian plates began colliding approximately 50 million years ago when theTethys Oceanclosed. TheMain Himalayan Thrust(MHT), adecollementstructure, defines the boundary between theIndian PlateandEurasian Plate.The convergent zone also contains three other major faults; theMain Boundary Thrust,Main Central ThrustandSouth Tibetan Detachment.At the surface, the Main Himalayan Thrust propagates along theMain Frontal Thrust(MFT). These faults runs for approximately 2,300 km in an east–west direction, parallel to the southern foothills of theLower Himalayan RangefromAssam,throughNepal,and intoPakistan.This majorthrust faultdips to the north, beneath the Himalaya at a shallow angle. It is the source of most of Himalayan earthquakes.[3][1]
Earthquakes on the convergent boundary are megathrust events that repeat every few centuries. Large Himalayan earthquakes including those in1505,1934and1950with magnitudes of 8.0+ were the result of rupturing the Main Himalayan Thrust. These events generated surface ruptures by breaching the surface via the MFT.
Impact[edit]
AtSrinagarin themeizoseismal area,an estimated 500–1,000 homes were destroyed, and alandslideoccurred. Groundfissuresandliquefactionevents took place inMathura,nearAligarhandAgra.[4]An estimated 200–300 people died due to collapsing roofs. Partial damage occurred in the townsDevprayag,Joshimath,BadrinathandAlmora.A landslide buried the small village and fort on the eastern bank of theYamuna RiverinUttar Pradesh.[4]
The shaking was strongly felt inMathuraand lasted several minutes. It destroyed manypucca homesin the city. Many residents were driven out of their homes, and into the streets or agricultural fields. A pregnant woman died after being struck by falling tiles.[5]Large fissures occurred in fields, spilling vast quantities of water. One of the fissures partially swallowed thedomeof a mosque. The fissures continued to eject water for several weeks, benefitting the residents who were able to obtain water.[5]
The HinduBadrinath Templesuffered severe damage from the quake.[6]Several temples, including theKashi Vishwanath TempleinUttarkashi,andTungnath,were totally destroyed.[7]
The earthquake occurred at the beginning of theSiege of AligarhduringSecond Anglo-Maratha War.Aligarh Fortwas captured by theBritish East India Companyfrom theMarathi peopleandFrench.The siege came to an end because the severely damage fort walls were breached, easing capture for the British.[8][9]
AtNew Delhi,acupolain theQutb Minarcollapsed and the main column was structurally weakened.[10]Reports documented that the spire of theKhanqah-e-MoulainKashmir Valley'sSrinagaralso collapsed, although it may have been a conflation with a previous earthquake. Fissuring was also observed in the city.Seichesin a water tank at theAcharya Jagadish Chandra Bose Indian Botanic GardeninCalcuttacaused by the quake was strong enough to throw fishes out of their aquarium.[11]
Earthquake[edit]
The earthquake is believed to haverupturedthe MHT but did not propagate to the surface. It shared similar characteristics with the1905 Kangraand the two2015 Nepal earthquakes;all three events failed to rupture the MHT, hence did not produce anysurface rupture.Thisblind thrust earthquakeis the largest in the Indian Himalaya during the 19th-century. Another similar-sized eventoccurred in Nepal in August 1833.This earthquake was located immediately east of the great 1505 earthquake rupture zone.[12]Two smaller earthquakes; the1991 Uttarkashiand1999 Chamoli earthquakes,also occurred in the epicenter region of the 1803 event.
Descriptions of severe damage and ground effects from the event suggest theearthquake ruptureinitiated beneath the Himalaya range, and propagated south; up-dip along the MHT in a northwest–southeast direction.[1]The rupture ceased just short of the MFT.[12]Accumulated stressto the east caused by the 1505 event was released during the 1803 quake. An estimated maximum coseismic slip of 4.5 meters or less occurred. Since then, roughly 3 meters of slip have accumulated. The two earthquakes in 1991 and 1999 failed to release the seismic strain accumulated since the 1803 event.[1]
Themoment magnitudewas previously assigned 8.0 in pastacademic journals[example needed]based on damage descriptions and felt reports from the historical documentation, but more recent reassessments indicate a much smaller magnitude of 7.8.[12]The earthquake magnitude has even been downgraded to 7.3 in some journals.[13]
Intensity[edit]
A macroseismic intensity survey from 1979 assigned the holy cityBadrinathwith VII (Very strong)–IX (Violent)-level shaking on theModified Mercalli intensity scale.A 2005 journal by geologistC. P. Rajendranand seismologistKusala Rajendranpublished inTectonophysicsassigned the maximumMedvedev–Sponheuer–Karnik scaleintensity at IX–X inSrinagarandDevprayag.[13]
See also[edit]
References[edit]
- ^abcdBilham, Roger (2019)."Himalayan earthquakes: a review of historical seismicity and early 21st century slip potential".Geological Society, London, Special Publications.483(1): 423–482.Bibcode:2019GSLSP.483..423B.doi:10.1144/SP483.16.Retrieved23 April2021.
- ^"Significant Earthquake Information".ngdc.noaa.gov.NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information.Retrieved16 November2021.
- ^Metcalfe, John (14 June 2016)."Study: Nepal Could Be Due for Another Major Earthquake".Bloomberg.Retrieved12 Dec2020.
- ^abMithila Verma; R. J. Singh; B. K. Bansal (19 June 2014). "Soft sediments and damage pattern: a few case studies from large Indian earthquakes vis-a-vis seismic risk evaluation".Natural Hazards.74(3): 1829–1851.Bibcode:2014NatHa..74.1829V.doi:10.1007/s11069-014-1283-4.S2CID129230290.
- ^abSujit Dasgupta; Basab Mukhopadhyay (2014)."1803 Earthquake in Garhwal Himalaya - Archival Materials With Commentary".Indian Journal of History of Science.49(1).Scribd:21–33.
- ^Vikram Sharma (23 February 2017)."Uttarakhand has a history of earthquakes but nobody cares!".The New Indian Express.Retrieved16 November2021.
- ^C. P. Rajendran;Kusala Rajendran;Jaishri Sanwal; Mike Sandiford (2013)."Archeological and Historical Database on the Medieval Earthquakes of the Central Himalaya: Ambiguities and Inferences"(PDF).Seismological Research Letters.84(6): 1098.Bibcode:2013SeiRL..84.1098R.doi:10.1785/0220130077.
- ^Roger Bilham (2004). "Historical Studies of Earthquakes in India".Annals of Geophysics.CiteSeerX10.1.1.554.5602.
- ^"1803 Garhwal Earthquake: Implications for western UP and NCR".Risk Prevention Mitigation and Management Forum.30 August 2021.Retrieved16 November2021.
- ^J. A. Page; Y. D. Sharma (2002).World Heritage Series: Qutb Minar & Adjoining Monuments(PDF).New Delhi:Archaeological Survey of India.p. 54.ISBN81-87780-07-X.
- ^Sujit Dasgupta."The 1803 North India earthquake".Indiaquake.Retrieved17 November2021.
- ^abcC. P. Rajendran;Biju John; K. Anandasabari; Jaishri Sanwal; Kusala Rajendran; Pankaj Kumar; Sundeep Chopra (2018)."On the paleoseismic evidence of the 1803 earthquake rupture (or lack of it) along the frontal thrust of the Kumaun Himalaya".Tectonophysics.772.Elsevier:227–234.Bibcode:2018Tectp.722..227R.doi:10.1016/j.tecto.2017.11.012.
- ^abC. P. Rajendran;Kusala Rajendran(2005)."The status of central seismic gap: A perspective based on the spatial and temporal aspects of the large Himalayan earthquakes".Tectonophysics.395(1): 19–39.Bibcode:2005Tectp.395...19R.doi:10.1016/j.tecto.2004.09.009.