Case Study: Bhuj, India 2001

The powerful earthquake that struck the Kutch area in Gujarat at 8:46 a.m. on January 26th, 2001 has been the most damaging earthquake in the last five decades in India. The magnitude 7.9 quake caused a large loss of life and property. Over 18,600 persons are reported to be dead and over 167,000 injured; the number of deaths is expected to rise with more information coming in. The estimated economic loss due to this quake is placed at around Rs. 22,000 Crores (~US $5 billion).

The earthquake was felt in most parts of the country, and a large area sustained damage. About 20 districts in the state of Gujarat sustained damage. The entire Kutch region of Gujarat, enclosed on three sides by the Great Runn of Kutch, the Little Runn of Kutch and the Arabian Sea, sustained the highest damage. Several towns and large villages, like Bhuj, Anjaar, Vondh and Bhachau sustained widespread destruction. The other prominent failures in the Kutch region include extensive liquefaction, failure of several earth dams of up to about 20m height, damage to masonry arch and reinforced concrete bridges, and failure

of railroad and highway embankments. Numerous recently-built multistory reinforced concrete frame buildings collapsed in Gandhidham and Bhuj in the Kutch region, and in the more distant towns of Morbi (~125 km east of Bhuj), Rajkot (~150 km southeast of Bhuj) and Ahmedabad (~300 km east of Bhuj). At least one multistory building at Surat (~375 km southeast of Bhuj) collapsed killing a large number of people.

A common scene of destruction of the villages. Photo courtesy of the Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur.

Photo courtesy of the World Bank

Total collapse of traditional houses of stone masonry with mud mortar at Maliya and Samakhyali villages. Photo courtesy of the Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur

Collapse of the upper story of a brick masonry building under construction at Bhachau village. Photo courtesy of the Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur

Ground story collapse of a four-story reinforced concrete building with open ground story at Bhuj. Photo courtesy of the Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur

Adjoining buildings with radically different performances Photo courtesy of the Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur.

A balanced cantilever slab bridge at Surajbadi with sustained, severe damage at most piers. Photo courtesy of the Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur

Excerpted from: "The Republic Day Earthquake in the land of M. K. Gandhi, The Father of the Nation,"Sudhir K. Jain, C. V. R. Murty, Umesh Dayal, Jaswant N. Arlekar, Sailender K. Chaubey. National Information Center of Earthquake Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur, India.URL: http://www.nicee.org/eqe-iitk/uploads/EQR_Bhuj.pdf
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