10 Worst Earthquakes in India

An earthquake may be defined as the sudden shock of the earth that emits the energy in the earth’s lithosphere causing the formation of seismic waves.

The earthquake can be caused due to volcanic eruption, the moving of tectonic plates, the formation of a cave in a small area, or due to explosions. It is determined with the help of a seismograph by Seismometer and is measured on the Richter Magnitude Scale.

  A. Earthquakes in India  

The list of the 10 biggest earthquakes in India is prepared depending on the magnitude and destruction of the earthquake. The top 10 biggest earthquakes in India are as follows:

10. Koynanagar Earthquake

The 1967 Koynanagar earthquake happened close to the Koynanagar town in Maharashtra, India on the date of 11 December local time. The magnitude 6.6 shock strike with a maximum Mercalli intensity of VIII (Severe).

The number of people who died during this earthquake is 180 and injured over 2,200.

9. Uttarkashi Earthquake

The 1991 Uttarkashi earthquake is also the Garhwal earthquake that happened at the time of 02:53:16 Indian Standard Time (UTC+05:30) on the date of 20 October having a moment magnitude of around 6.8 and maximum Mercalli intensity of IX (Violent).

The number of people who died during this earthquake is around 768-2000 and injured 1383-1800.

8. Assam Earthquake

The Assam earthquake of 1897 happened on the date of 12 June 1897, in Assam, British India at 11:06 UTC, and had an approximated moment magnitude of 8.2–8.3. In this earthquake, India faced 1,542 human casualties and caused disastrous harm to infrastructures.

Harm from the earthquake enlarged into Calcutta, where a number of buildings were seriously harmed, with some buildings partially failing. Earthquakes were felt across India, extending as far as Ahmedabad and Peshawar. Seiches were also seen in Burma.

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7. Assam-Tibet Earthquake

The 1950 Assam–Tibet earthquake also known as the Assam earthquake, happened on the date of 15 August having a moment magnitude of 8.6.

The epicenter was in the Mishmi Hills in India and in China it is called as Qilinggong Mountains (祁灵公山), south of the Kangri Karpo and just east of the Himalayas in the North-East Frontier Agency region of Assam, India. This region, south of the McMahon Line is also known as Arunachal Pradesh. It is the strongest earthquake ever recorded on land.

6. Latur Earthquake

The 1993 Latur earthquake hit India at the time of 3:56 am local time (UTC+05:30) on the date of 30 September. The major region affected is the districts of Latur and Osmanabad, containing the Ausa block of Latur and Omerga of Osmanabad in Maharashtra, Western India.

52 villages were destroyed due to the intraplate earthquake. It recorded 6.2 on the moment magnitude scale. During this earthquake around 10,000 people died, and 30,000 got injured.

5. Kangra Earthquake

The 1905 Kangra earthquake happened in the Kangra Valley and the Kangra area of the Punjab Province currently known as Himachal Pradesh in India on the date of 4 April 1905.

The earthquake recorded 7.8 on the surface wave magnitude scale and the death of more than 20,000 people. Apart from this, most buildings in the towns of Kangra, Mcleodganj, and Dharamshala were damaged.

The 2001 Gujarat earthquake also known as the Bhuj earthquake, happened on the date of 26 January, India’s 52nd Republic Day, at the time of 08:46 am Indian Standard Time. The epicenter was near 9 km south-southwest of the village of Chobari in Bhachau Taluka of Kutch District of Gujarat in India.

The intraplate earthquake recorded 7.7 on the moment magnitude scale and had a maximum felt intensity of X (Extreme) on the Mercalli intensity scale. During this earthquake around 13,805 and 20,023 people (including 18 in southeastern Pakistan) died, the injured number is around 167,000, and destroyed nearly 340,000 buildings.

3. Bihar Earthquake

The 1934 Nepal–India earthquake or the 1934 Bihar–Nepal earthquake was one of the most dangerous earthquakes in the history of  India. The towns of Munger and Muzaffarpur were entirely damaged.

This 8.0 magnitude earthquake happened on the date of 15 January 1934 at around 2:13 pm IST (08:43 UTC) and caused extensive damage in northern Bihar and in Nepal. The epicenter of this earthquake was in eastern Nepal about 9.5 km (5.9 mi) south of Mount Everest.

2. Kashmir Earthquake

The 2005 Kashmir earthquake happened at the time of 08:50:39 Pakistan Standard Time on the date 8 October 2005 in Pakistani-administered Azad Kashmir.
It was located close to the city of Muzaffarabad and also harmed Balakot in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and some regions of Indian-administered Jammu and Kashmir.

The moment magnitude of this earthquake was measured at 7.6 and had a maximum Mercalli intensity of XI (Extreme). The earthquake also harmed neighboring countries where earthquakes were felt in Afghanistan, Tajikistan, India, and the Xinjiang area.

The seriousness of the damage caused by the earthquake is assigned to serious upthrust. More than 86,000 people died, the same number of people were injured, and millions were homeless. It is taken as the most dangerous earthquake in South Asia than the 1935 Quetta earthquake.

1. Indian Ocean Earthquake

The 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami is also known as the Boxing Day Tsunami by a group of scientific people. The Sumatra-Andaman earthquake happened at 07:58:53 local time (UTC+7) on the date of 26 December, with an epicenter off the west coast of northern Sumatra, Indonesia.

It was an undersea megathrust earthquake that measured a magnitude of 9.1-9.3 Mw, attending a Mercalli intensity up to IX in a few areas. The earthquake began with a fracture along the fault between the Burma Plate and the Indian Plate.

A sequence of huge tsunami waves developed up to 30 m (100 ft) high once heading inland after being caused by the underwater seismic activity offshore. Neighboring along the coasts of the Indian Ocean were destroyed, and the tsunamis took the life of an estimated 227,898 people in 14 countries, keeping it one of the most fatal natural disasters in the recorded past.

This was for Earthquakes in India.