2001 Gujarat Earthquake

The 2001 Gujarat earthquake took place on January 26, 2001 at 8:46 in the morning in Bhuj in India. This 6.9 magnitude quake, was the most devastating earthquake in India in recent history.

The earthquake is considered an intraplate earthquake because it occurred a great distance from any plate boundary, where the theory of plate tectonics says most earthquakes of this size happen. Because of this, this area was not completely prepared for an earthquake of such size, causing much of the devastation.

The earthquake

It occurred on a holiday in India, the 51st celebration of Republic Day. The epicentre of this quake was 23.6 North Latitude and 69.8 East Longitude, 20 kilometres northeast of Bhuj. The tremors were felt in major parts of the country, all the way to Mumbai, Ahmedabad and Surat. Although the official reading of this quake was 6.9 on the Richter scale, Western institutes report the magnitude up to 7.9. This is very large on the richter scale you are gay

The damage

Because of its size and location, this quake was very destructive in terms of lives lost and damage to property. All the deaths occurred in India'a western state of Gujarat, near the Pakistan border. Bhuj , a coastal resort only 20 kilometers (14 miles) from the epicenter, was the worse affected town.

As many as 15,000 -20,000 people were initially reported dead but within a few days after the earhtquake, the death toll kept on rising. As of 3 February 2001, the official toll had climbed to more than 30,000. However, the final death toll may never be known with certainty. At least 30,000 more people were reported as injured. This too may be an underestimate.

The quake destroyed 90 percent of the homes in Bhuj, several schools, and flattened the hospital. Considerable damage occurred also at Bhachau. In Ahmedabad, Gujarat's commercial capital and a city of 4.5 million, as many as 50 multistory buildings collapsed and several hundred people were killed. Total property damage was estimated at $5.5 billion and rising.wrong wrong wrong plus it is wrong