JOURNAL GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF INDIA

Vol.75, February 2010, pp.383-392

Macroseismic Study of 20th May 2007 Sikkim Earthquake –

Its Seismotectonic Implications for the Region

K. C. JOSHI1, S. SENGUPTA2 and G. C. KANDPAL1

Geological Survey of India, 1Northern Region, Lucknow -226 024; 2Eastern Region, Gangtok – 737 101

Abstract: An earthquake of magnitude 5.0 with its epicenter in the West Sikkim district occurred on the evening of 20th
May 2007. The macroseismic study revealed an ENE-WSW isoseismal pattern indicating a trend conforming to that of
the major tectonic discontinuities in this part of the Himalaya.
The relatively moderate event, felt even at far away places like, Siliguri, Darjeeling, etc induced a maximum intensity
of VI (MSK) in the form of development of cracks in the walls, fall of thick chunks of plaster in Type A or even Type B-
C structures at localities like Tashiding, Ralang, Rabang, Keozing, Sakyong, etc.
The study also revealed that the NW-SE trending Tista lineament is playing an important role in the release of the
tectonics strain in this region and that the rupture initiated under the influence of the northward directed tectonic stresses
at an asperity formed at one of the decollements within the crust by the intersection of this tectonic discontinuity was
interpreted to be responsible for this seismic event.

Keywords: Seismology, Earthquake, Sikkim.

INTRODUCTION of the Sub-Himalaya constituting the northern parts of West

A moderate earthquake of magnitude M 5.0 (IMD,
USGS) jolted the western and southwestern parts of Sikkim
at 19Hr: 48Min: 16.5Sec (IST). The epicentral coordinates
27.5°N: 88.3°E given at IMD site vary from those - 27.30°N:
88.19°E - given at USGS site (Fig.3). The depth of the event
as given by USGS and IMD is 17 and 15 km, respectively.
The tremors with the maximum effects around few localities
of West Sikkim district, were not severe enough to cause
any serious damage to life and property - albeit the felt area
encompassed areas of the adjoining localities like Siliguri,
Darjeeling, etc of the neighbouring state of West Bengal.
Interestingly, though the area is considered to be tectonically
highly active, there are no records of a large earthquake in
Sikkim region. However, recent study by Bilham and
Wallace (2005) puts this part of the Himalaya in seismically
highly vulnerable regions. The authors undertook the
damage survey with a view to assess the seismic intensity at
various places, and to constrain the isoseismals of the seismic
event, thereby delineating the source fault.
During the survey, the authors visited thirty five localities
in West, South, East and North districts of Sikkim to make
an on-the-spot assessment of the intensity.
GEOTECTONIC SETUP
The earthquake has affected Sikkim Himalaya and parts
Bengal, which expose a variety of rocks belonging to a wide
range of geological age and tectonic status. Broadly these
include the comparatively thin sedimentary cover rocks of
Teritary age, affected by the fold thrust movement during
the terminal phase of Himalayan orogeny in the south,
followed northward by the pre-Tertiary metasedimentaries,
dominantly of Proterozoic age, and the intrusives. The
boundary between the Tertiaries and pre-Tertiaries is marked
by the Main Boundary Thrust (MBT) (Fig.2). The pre-
Tertiary metasedimentaries to the north of MBT, also
classified as Lesser Himalaya, are represented here by
the Daling Group of rocks. These rocks comprise quartz-
chlorite-sericite phyllite/schist, slaty phyllite, dark grey
slates, quartzites and their intercalations of the Gorubathan
and Reyang Formations, and dolomite, limestone and
phyllites of the Buxa Formation (Acharyya, 1989; Ray,
1989). In tectonic perspective, these Lesser Himalayan
formations are described as the older folded cover sequence
overprinted by Himalayan fold thrust movement (GSI,
2000). Another regional tectonic discontinuity of the
Himalaya, the Main Central Thrust (MCT), is exposed
parallel and north of MBT. The MCT separates the highly
metamorphosed central crystallines in the north from the
comparatively low-grade rocks of the Lesser Himalaya
towards south. The central crystallines, which like the Lesser
Himalayan rocks have been reworked by the Himalayan fold

0016-7622/2010-75-2-383/$ 1.00 © GEOL. SOC. INDIA

384 K. C. JOSHI AND OTHERS
thrust movement, northwards are followed by the poorly
metamorphosed (Tethyan) Paleozoic-Mesozoic sequence,
which got folded during Himalayan orogeny. The Tertiaries,
comprising the Siwalik Group of rocks, are followed by
Gangetic alluvum further south.
Interestingly, the ENE-WSW trending Siwaliks abut
against a NNE-SSW trending fault, beyond which the
Siwaliks are not exposed and the Gangetic Alluvium is
juxtaposed with the pre-Tertiaries along the MBT.
Besides these, another important tectonostratigraphic
feature here is the presence of the Gondwana Group of rocks
exposed in a tectonic window, known as Rangit Window.
Similar lithopacket is also exposed towards south in the form
of a lenticular tectonic wedge along the MBT (Narula et al.
2000).
One significant feature in the tectonic scenario of this
region is the reentrant formed by one of the most important
tectonic surfaces of the Himalaya, the MCT, which though
disposed parallel to the MBT at a more or less constant
aerial distance of about 5 km in this part of the Eastern
Himalaya, suddenly swerves northward and makes a
reentrant of considerable spread, forming a narrow neck at
its base. Seismotectonically, most of the thrusts, which are
either parallel or sub parallel to the Himalayan trend are
believed to merge with a gently north dipping tectonic
discontinuity formed by the upper surface of the
underthrusting Indian Plate, known as decollement (Seeber
and Armbruster, 1981, Ni and Barazangi, 1984). Nakata et
al. (1990) have reported neotectonic activity along the
Himalayan Frontal Fault (HFF).
Additionally, there are a number of transverse lineaments
/ faults having great relevance to the contemporary tectonics.
The NW-SE trending Tista lineament, Purnia-Everest
lineament and another lineament east of Tista Lineament,
passing through west of Cooch Bihar, appear to have a
significant influence on the seismicity of the region.
SEISMICITY
The affected area falls in Zone IV of the Seismic Zonation
Map of India, which implies that the area may be jolted by
seismic activity equivalent to intensity VIII.
As per the Seismotectonic Atlas of India and its Environs
(2000) and the USGS website, a total of one hundred and
forty four seismic events have been recorded in the area
bounded by latitude 25°-29° and longitude 87°-90° till
August 2007, which show following frequency distribution.
A perusal of the table shows that about half of the number
of total events are of magnitude between 4.0 and <5.0 and
that there is only one event in the range of 6.0 <7.0. As
Table 1. Frequency distribution of earthquakes
between 25°-29° N and 87°-90° E
Mag. range No. of events Percent
6.0 <7.0 1 0.69
5.0 <6.0 38 26.38
.0 <5.0 70 48.60
<4 12 08.33
Not determined 23 15.97
a matter of fact, the magnitude of this solitary event in this
range is M b6.0. There is no record of a larger event
originating in this region. However, 1934 Bihar-Nepal
earthquake induced ground motions equivalent to intensity
VII in the Sikkim region, which means that the area suffered
damage comprising extensive cracks in many structures and
partial collapse in some of the stone masonry constructions
(GSI, 1939). Bilham and Wallace (2005) have mentioned
about an earthquake in the year 1713 in Western Bhutan,
which damaged several monasteries in the area. Also on the
basis of their study of the slip potential in the Himalaya,
they have come up with the possibility of a future earthquake
in this region with a maximum magnitude of Mw 8.2.
The records also reveal that most (82.6%) of the recorded
seismic events had a shallow crustal origin with their depth
being less than 40 km.
The fault plane solutions of the events belonging to the
years 1965, 1980 and 1982, which occurred in the Himalaya,
indicate predominantly strike slip type mechanism with
nodal planes striking in NW-SE and NE-SW directions
(Table 2) (Fig.1). The other two solutions for the earth-
quakes of 1979 and 1993, which occurred in the foredeep
region, however, indicate a predominantly normal fault
mechanism with both the nodal planes, striking in almost
N-S direction for the former and NE-SW and E-W directions
for the latter.
De and Kayal (2003) presenting the seismotectonic
model of Sikkim Himalaya concluded that the earthquake
activity was concentrated mainly along the MBT and
NW-SE trending lineament. A composite fault plane
solution of a cluster of micro earthquakes recorded just north
of MCT, during a survey conducted by GSI indicated a
predominantly thrust type mechanism with nodal planes
oriented in E-W directions (De et al. 1995).
Recently, another micro earthquake study was carried
out by the GSI in the southern part of Sikkim and northern
part of West Bengal, through a four-station network between
19th Feb. and 19th April 2007 (Chakraborty, 2006-07). The
survey revealed that a majority of the seismic events, and
thus the seismic activity, is concentrated on the eastern side
of the Teesta lineament (Fig.2).
JOUR.GEOL.SOC.INDIA, VOL.75, FEB. 2010
 MACROSEISMIC STUDY OF 20 MAY 2007 SIKKIM EARTHQUAKE 385

Lac
hun
(F)C Mz

gC
Cz1
Kanchenjunga

hu
8586 m
(F)F Pt (F)C Mz

Thimpu

20.05.07
nt

Earthquake (F)FC Pt23

me

(F)F T
C
ea

Gangtok Wangdi
M
Lin
T
MC

(F)FC Pt
T (F)C
C
M
a

Rangit R.
ng
nju

MCT
he

Darjeeling Kalimpong
nc

(F)FPt1
Ka

Dogan

Tis
F
(F)FPt1

ta
R.
F
80 F
(F)FC
(F) Cz -1
(F) Cz
-140
Purn

Al Siliguri
ia

0
Tis

-12
ta

Morang
0
-10
Ever

F Jalpaiguri
F
est

Alipur Duar
Lin
ea

F
me
25

nt

Forbesganj
00

Kooch Bihar
Linea

40
men

00
30
00
t

Kishanganj -80
25
00

F(FC) Crystalline Complex Earthquake epicentres (Shallow)

Earthquake epicentres (Deep)

(F)F Older Folded Cover Sequence
Lineament / Fault

Older Folded Cover Sequence folded

during Himalayan Fold Thrust Movement
Focal mechanism solution
Normal / Strike slip
(F)Cz Cover rocks of Frontal Belt

Gravity contours /
0
-12

Alluvium 80 Depth of basement

Fig.1. Seismotectonic map of Himalaya and the foredeep region of North Bengal and Sikkim (modified after Seismotectonic Atlas of
India and its environs, GSI, 2000).

Sankar Kumar Nath et al. (2000) has carried out site the overall site response was higher at higher frequencies.
response studies in Sikkim Himalaya by using strong motions Site response at lower frequencies (1 – 5 Hz) was, however,
recorded with the help of an array of 7 instruments for about either low or moderate.
4 months in 1999. A keener look on the Fig.3 of this paper Interestingly, there was a spate of seismic activity just
indicates that there exists a somewhat predominance of prior to and after the instant event of 20th May 2007. Two
seismic events on the eastern side of the Tista lineament. events of M 4.0 and 4.7 occurred on 16th and 18th May
Additionally, although their studies were of preliminary respectively, and another event of M 3.5 took place on 23rd
nature, they concluded that, in general, in Sikkim Himalaya, May 2007 (Figs. 2 and 3). It was even more interesting that

JOUR.GEOL.SOC.INDIA, VOL.75, FEB. 2010

386 K. C. JOSHI AND OTHERS

Table 2. Fault plane solutions of the earthquakes between 25°-29° N and 87°-90° E (from Seismotectonic Atlas of India and its Environs, 2000)

Year Mo Dt Mb NP1 NP2 P axis T axis B axis Source

St Dip St Dip Pl Az Pl Az Pl Az
1965 01 12 5.8 233 76 326 72 23 192 03 281 66 14 Dasgupta et al. (1987)
1979 06 19 4.6 350 57 179 34 78 243 11 84 04 353 Dziewonski et al. (1988)
1980 11 19 6.0 209 51 301 89 28 172 25 68 51 302 Dziewonski et al. (1988)
1980 11 19 6.0 218 64 119 74 10 160 32 74 58 269 Rastogi (1992)
1982 04 05 5.0 206 48 314 72 43 178 14 74 42 330 Nandy and Dasgupta (1991)
1993 02 15 4.9 46 50 272 48 65 251 01 339 24 68 Dasgupta et al. (1987)

all these events were located in the close vicinity of the Tista which, in fact, is the updated version of MSK scale (Grunthal
lineament. 1993). A maximum intensity of VI has been assigned to this
earthquake (Fig.3). Besides intensity VI, isoseismals of lower
intensity, viz. V and IV were also delineated. The isoseismal
EARTHQUAKE EFFECTS AND DELINEATION
OF ISOSEISMALS IV could be drawn as intermittent line, which though does
not provide the detailed behaviour of the isoseismal, does
The isoseismals for the earthquake were delineated on indicate its aerial extent. All the isoseismals, except VI,
the basis of the study of its effects in about 35 localities. however, were left open, as they could not be followed
The effects were studied by exhaustively interviewing the further due to the inaccessible and uninhabited nature of
inhabitants of different localities. The enquiries were mainly the area.
on the following pattern. Notwithstanding the incompleteness (due to the reasons
stated above), the major trend of the elliptical isoseismals
1. Effects on persons i.e. human perception
can easily be deciphered as ENE-WSW. A perusal of the
2. Effects on surroundings
isoseismal map shows that the attenuation of intensities is
3. Effects on structures
maximum towards SW. Further, whereas the long axes of
Since the effects were not strong enough to cause much all the elliptical isoseismals are extending towards ENE,
damage to structures, mainly the human perception factored southeastwards the isoseismals tend to be somewhat
in the assessment of intensity at most of the places. Intensities inflated.
were assigned using Medvedev - Sponheuer - Karnik (MSK- There was no report of injury to any one due to the
64) scale and European Macroseismic scale (EMS-92), earthquake. Nor there was report of any significant damage
to property, save for some instances of development of
cracks or fall of chunks of plaster representing the severest
Total selected events- 31 effects of the seismic event. As such, one had to fall back on
Magnitude
3.4 3.7 BLOCK-A
human perceptions for constraining the isoseismals,
Recent Earthquakes especially of intensity V to III. Therefore, in order to achieve
EQ MAG 4.0 on 16-05-07 maximum accuracy, several localities were visited to make
EQ MAG 5.0 on 20-04-07 BLOCK-B an on the spot assessment of the intensity at respective areas.
GANGTOK
EQ MAG 4.6 on 18-06-07
STM The following paragraphs are devoted to the brief description
JTG
EQ MAG 3.5 on 23-05-07
DAR of the effects of tremors at different localities. For the sake
EQ MAG 4.8 on 11-06-07 KAG
of referral convenience different localities included within
an isoseist have been grouped together. Also the descriptions
Tis
aLt

of the effects in a few localities have been clubbed together

ine

SILIGURI
am

to avoid repetition.
en
t

Fig.2. Epicentral map showing station locations and epicenters of Isoseist VI

micro earthquakes recorded between February 2007 and
April 2007 (after Chakraborty, FS- 2006-07).Tista
Lineament has been plotted on this map. Filled dots are
epicenters; filled triangles are station locations; filled
rectangles are locations of prominent places.
This isoseist, encompassing areas/localities having
experienced the maximum intensity of the event, covered
apparently an elliptical area trending in ENE-WSW
directions with a subtle inflation towards southeast (Fig.3).

JOUR.GEOL.SOC.INDIA, VOL.75, FEB. 2010

 MACROSEISMIC STUDY OF 20 MAY 2007 SIKKIM EARTHQUAKE 387

N
2.5 0 7.5km
IMD
SCALE 20.05.07 IV
Mangan

TISTA R.
Namok

Kabi
18.03.98
Yoksam USGS
14.02.06
Polot

USGS VI Ralang Ranka Gangtok

Sakyong
20.05.07 Tashiding Rabang
27.12.03 USGS Gezing Keozing
18.05.07 Ranipool
Legship Ben
Pakyong
Rinchingpong
Singtam
USGS
23.05.07 IMD 26.05.07
Rangpo
02.12.01 23.03.96 Namchi
IV
(F)FC
Rang
M. C. T. it R.
25.05.03
TIS
TA

Darjeeling
LIN

Kalimpong
T
EA

13.09.96 M C
ME

st
NT

ru
(F)F Th
ary
nd F
TIS

u
Bo
TA

(F)FC in
Ma
R.

rust (F)C
l Th
Centra Al
Main
(F)

Crystalline complex overprinted by

(F)F Himalayan fold thrust movement Isoseismal lines with intensity (MSK)
Older folded cover sequence overprinted by
(F)FC Himalayan Epicentre (1964-1993) M5.0-5.9, 4.0-4.9,
fold thrust movement Not determined
Older cover
(F)C Himalayan fold sequence folded during Epicentre (1901-1963)M5.0-5.9
thrust movement
Epicentre of 20.05.2007 and Recent
(F) Cover rocks of frontal belt affected by
fold thrust movement during terminal earthquakes
phase of Himalayan orogeny F Lineament, Fault
Al Alluvium Hot spring

th
Fig.3. Isoseismal map of 20 May 2007 earthquake.

Although the area of influence of this isoseist was
considerable the intensity everywhere, close to or away from
the isoseismal, was, more or less, just on the higher side of
the threshold of the intensity VI. Localities like Tashiding,
Ralang, Rabang, Keozing, Sakyong, etc have been included
in this isoseist.
Tashiding
The serene Tashiding village with its monastery – one
of the few most sacred monasteries of the Sikkim – imparting
prominence to it, is located on a gently sloping spur. Here
almost all the people, inside or outside their houses felt the
tremors. Rattling of doors, windows, utensils, were few of
the common observations. Some people, who were inside
their houses, ran outdoors as they reportedly got frightened.
Small, less stable objects were reported to have fallen during
the ground shaking.
The ground shaking also induced damage up to grade 2

JOUR.GEOL.SOC.INDIA, VOL.75, FEB. 2010

388 K. C. JOSHI AND OTHERS
in the form of widening of preexisting cracks, construction
joints, peeling off of fairly thick chunks of plaster and
development of new cracks in Type B constructions.
The Tashiding monastery, a load bearing stone masonry-
set-in-mud-mortar structure is one of the most severely
affected building in this seismic event. Enquiries revealed
that the roofing of the main monastery had been changed
over the years. The wooden trusses, used in the old roofing,
have been replaced by steel ones in the new one. The seismic
loading of the structure – which seems to have resulted in
lateral loading of the load bearing walls by the trusses –
though did not cause any collapse or failure of any load
bearing structure in this building, has in fact seriously
compromised its structural integrity in the form of
development of cracks between the beams and the walls.
Almost all the walls have developed surficial to fairly deep
cracks (Fig. 4). The RC floors have also been affected in
the form of cracks by the ground motions.
Fig.4. Cracks developed in one of the walls of the Tashiding
Monstery as a result of earthquake shaking
The other effects include a little shifting of the heavy
furniture and the fall of some of the articles placed in the
hands of the statue of Lord Buddha, encased in a glass
covered shelf, which resulted in breaking of another statue.
Ralang
Situated at a distance of about 10 km from Rabangla
(Rabang) on the road to Brang and founded on gentle slopes
of deeply weathered rocks, this locality experienced strong
ground shaking that most of the people felt the shock. Many
people ran outdoors in panic. Articles and utensils kept in
shelves fell in good numbers.
Some of the stone masonry structures in the village
reportedly suffered damage in the form of fairly deep cracks
in the walls. However, the monastery here remained
unscathed. Most of the constructions in the villages are either
Fig.5. Typical dwelling of a Sikkim village using wood as the
construction material for the entire structure renders it
seismically resistant.
‘Ikra’ type or complete wood houses (Figs. 5 and 6). Ikra
construction involves walls made up of small rectangular
wooden frame, which are further filled in by bamboo mesh.
This type of framed structure constitutes the core of the wall,
which is then plastered from both the sides to result in a
light weight load bearing structure, which can withstand
lateral loading in the form of seismic forces with a better
efficiency.
Rabang
Inhabitants of this town with a gentle and rolling
topography at a height of 2100 m, felt the shock. Many of
them ran outside in panic. A few of them reported about a
sound like that of ‘light blasting’ just before the ground
shaking.
There were reports of fall of photo frames and other
items kept on shelves. A few RCC constructions reportedly
developed cracks.
Sakyong
This locality is aerially about 5 km north of Geyzing
and about the same distance WNW of Tashiding. Here, most
of the people felt the shock. Many of them rushed outside
as the tremors frightened them.
There was also damage to structures, which include RCC
framed structures, Ikra constructions and wooden houses.
Sakyong secondary school, developed oblique as well as
horizontal cracks in the walls. Opening of construction joints
between the beams and walls was a relatively more common
phenomenon.
Keozing (Samsing)
The twin localities – Keozing being a cluster of newly
built predominantly RCC structures, situated on the road to
JOUR.GEOL.SOC.INDIA, VOL.75, FEB. 2010
 MACROSEISMIC STUDY OF 20 MAY 2007 SIKKIM EARTHQUAKE
Fig.6. Peeling off of chunks of plaster from a thick ground floor
wall of random rubble masonry set in mud mortar. The
upper storey is made up of the ubiquitious Ikra type
construction in the village. Location Samsing village.
Rabangla and Samsing being its rural part located aerially
about 1 km north of it – experienced considerably strong
ground shaking, which resulted in the development of
cracks between beam and the walls in even Type B to C
structures. The damage in the poor quality constructions
of rubble masonry set in mud mortar (Type A) was of
somewhat higher grade in the form of fall of thick chunks of
plaster and development of deeper cracks in the walls
(Fig.6)
Isoseist V
This isoseist, like others, has also an elliptical shape with
the long axis trending in ENE-WSW directions. Due to
unavailability of the data towards west, it had to be left
open-ended. The isoseismal of intensity V passes through
places just north of Yuksam, in the north, just around
Namok in the ENE, through Ben (Thalabari) and Rishi, and
just south of Rinchingpong in the south. Interestingly, the
isoseismal extends more towards ENE to impart an element
of asymmetry in this direction. Observations, as recorded at
some of the localities within this isoseist, are described
below.
Polot
Located about 2 km south of Brang along the road on
the eastern flank of the Rangit River, the landscape here is
in the form of gently sloping surface made up of deeply
weathered rocks. The area boasts of the hottest hot water
springs among the many such springs located all along the
length of the Rangit River.
The earthquake effects in this locality were strong enough
to be felt by most of the inhabitants. However, the shock
was not frightening enough to cause panic among the
JOUR.GEOL.SOC.INDIA, VOL.75, FEB. 2010
389
residents. There were reports of stray cases of fine cracks in
a few constructions, majority of which is constituted by the
Ikra houses – the tremors affecting mostly those parts of the
walls, which used random rubble masonry.
Yuksam
Yuksam, a tourist destination being the first capital of
Sikkim where first Chogyal of the Kingdom of Sikkim was
consecrated in 1642 A.D. is located at a distance of about
40 km from Pemayangtse –where one of the oldest
monasteries of the state is situated.
The earthquake effects were felt by most of the
inhabitants. Many of those who were standing out in the
open also felt it. Few of those inside their dwellings came
out in fear. However some who were inside their vehicles
did not feel the shaking. Although people informed of fall
of articles kept in shelves there was no report of damage to
any structure, most of which are either wood constructions
or Ikra type.
Isoseist IV
The isoseist follows more or less the same ENE-WSW
trend of higher isoseists. It encompasses localities like
Gangtok, Namchi, Naya Bazar, Kabi and Mangan in the
southwest. In these places most of people inside their houses
felt the tremors. The shocks were not frightening.
Places like Mangan, Rangpo and Pakyong have been
kept in Isoseist III, where only few people reported of slight
trembling.
Hypocentral Depth Calculated from Macroseismic Data
By using maximum intensity value Io = VI in various
empirical relations relating magnitude (M), maximum
intensity (Io) and depth of hypocenter (h), we get the
following results.
1. Gzovsky’s formula
Io = 1.5 M - h/15 gives h = 22.5 km
2. Shebalin’s formula
Io = 1.5 M - 3.5 log h + 3 gives h = 19.3 km
3. Gutenberg and Richter’s formula
M = 0.6 Io + 1.8 log h – 1.0 gives h = 21.54 km
These values of depth of hypocenter are somewhat
higher than the instrumental depth of 17.0 km and 15.0 km
provided by USGS and IMD, respectively.
DISCUSSION ON SOURCE MECHANISM
Regarding the seismotectonics of the region, Seeber and
390 K. C. JOSHI AND OTHERS

Armbruster (1981) and Ni and Barazangi (1984), have transverse Himalayan features have a significant role in
proposed the most convincing models for the Himalaya. the generation of the earthquakes. This, in other words,
According to them there exists a gently dipping decollement/ implies that such transverse features deciphered on the
detachment surface underlying the entire Himalaya. This ground extend downwards at least to the detachment surface
plane, which controls the major seismic activity in the Sub, or still lower. There are many earthquakes e.g. 1978
Lesser and Higher Himalaya, represents the upper surface Dharamshala Earthquake; 1980 Dharchula Earthquake;
of the under thrusting Indian Plate, and the MCT, MBT, 1996 Chamoli Earthquake and 2005 Dharamshala
FHT and their subsidiary thrusts and faults, merge with this Earthquake, whose isoseismal trends are transverse to the
plane at depth. Srinivasan and Khar (1996) have supported Himalayan grain.
the existence of decollement under the outer Himalaya. The area exposes traces of ENE-WSW trending MBT
According to them, the depth of this northward dipping and MCT disposed parallel and close to each other. The
surface under Lesser and Higher Himalaya, constrained with surface disposition of these regional tectonic discontinuities
the help of accurately determined depth of thrust type events, indicates that the probable gently dipping decollements may
varies from 10 to 20 km below surface. also be, by and large, having a similar trend. The MCT,
Mattauer (1986) has proposed a model, which presents however, makes a reentrant here. It is a well known fact that
the Himalaya as a crustal stacking accretionary wedge, which the areas of reentrant, be it Kangra reentrant or Ravi
is related to inter continental subduction. He proposed for reentrant, are the locales of tectonic strain.
more than one decollements occurring along boundaries of Presence of major thrusts like MBT and MCT, and the
lithological contacts such as basement cover contact, lower available fault plane solutions of the two past earthquakes,
and upper crust, the crust mantle boundary or anisotropies which occurred east of the present event, indicating strike
within the lithosphere. slip mechanism suggest that the area is under compressional
As mentioned earlier there is a broadly NW-SE trending stresses.
Tista lineament, which passes through just east of Naya Like in almost all the past earthquakes of Himalaya the
Bazar and aerially about 6 km west of Geyzing (Figs. 1 and fault rupture in this event also did not extend up to the
3). Recently a micro earthquake study carried out by GSI in surface. However, the ENE-WSW trending typical elliptical
the southern part of Sikkim and northern part of West Bengal
through a four-station network between 19th Feb. and 19th
April 2007 revealed that the occurrence of majority of the
seismic events and thus the seismic activity was concentrated
east of the Tista lineament (Fig. 2).
Additionally, presence of a number of hot water springs
along the Rangit River valley, which also falls on the eastern
side of the said lineament further strengthens the notion that
this part of the area is under contemporary tectonic strain
(Fig.3).
Interestingly, there was a spate of seismic activity just
prior to and after the instant event of 20th May 2007. Two
events of M 4.0 and 4.7 occurred on 16th and 18th May
respectively, and another event of M 3.5 took place on 23rd
May 2007 (Figs. 2 and 3). It was even more interesting
that all these events were located in the close vicinity of
the Tista lineament. In view of this observation along
with the revelations of the micro earthquake survey, the
authors conclude that this may be the transverse feature,
laterally controlling the tectonic activity in this region,
which is taking place under the influence of regional
principal stresses acting in northerly direction. It may be Fig.7. Isoseismal and source area delineation (red dashed line) of
mentioned here that with the help of geological, geo- the 14th Feb. 2006 earthquake (from Som et al. 2008). In
thermal, macroseismic, seismological, gravity and magnetic present authors’ view an ENE-WSW trend is also
data, Narula and Shome (1992) have concluded that the discernable from the isoseismal pattern.

JOUR.GEOL.SOC.INDIA, VOL.75, FEB. 2010

 MACROSEISMIC STUDY OF 20 MAY 2007 SIKKIM EARTHQUAKE
shape of the isoseismals suggests that a rupture roughly
along this trend would have caused this event. The isoseismal
pattern also shows that the intensity dies out or attenuates
faster towards south-southwest. The hypocentral depth
figure of the event as determined by the United States
Geological Survey (USGS) is 17 km. The IMD’s figure for
the same is 15 km, and that calculated empirically through
macroseismic study by the authors is in the range of 19.3 to
22.5 km.
Incidentally, there was an earthquake of Mb 5.4 on 14th
February 2006, which had its macroseismic epicentral tract
around Gangtok – Tadong area. The macroseismic study of
this event by GSI concluded that an E-W trending lineament
could be the source area of this event (Som et al. 2008).
However, in present authors’ view, a keener look on the
isoseismal pattern of this event reveals that a general
ENE-WSW trend could also be made out from their
disposition (Fig.7).
The authors, on the basis of isoseismal pattern and the
considerations regarding principal regional stress vis-a-vis
the orientations of tectonic discontinuities, opine that the
20th May 2007 event was generated by the initiation of a
rupture extending in ENE-WSW directions under the
influence of regional principal stresses along the Tista
Lineament at an asperity formed by its intersection with one
of the decollements within the crust. The attenuation of the
intensities towards southwest and somewhat inflated pattern
towards southeast also suggest that the lineament has played
a role in the strain release.
References
ACHARYYA, S.K. (1989) The Daling Group, its nomenclature,
tectono-stratigraphy and structural grain: with notes on their
possible equivalents. Geol. Surv. India Spec. Publ. No.22,
pp.5-13.
BILHAM, R. and Wallace, K. (2005) Future Mw>8 earthquakes in
the Himalaya: implications from the 26 Dec 2004 Mw=9.0
earthquake on India’s eastern plate margin. Geol. Surv. India
Spec. Publ., No.85, pp.1-14.
CHAKRABORTY, G.K. (2006-07) Report on microearthquake survey
in Darjeeling district of West Bengal and Sikkim during Feb.
to April 2007. (GSI Report under preparation)
DASGUPTA, S., MUKHOPADHYAY, MANOJ and NANDY, D.R. (1987)
Active transverse features in the central portion of Himalaya,
Tectonophysics, v.136, pp.255-264.
DE, REENA and KAYAL, J.R. (2003) Seismotectonicmodel of Sikkim
Himalaya: constraint from microearthquake surveys, Bull.
Seis. Soc. Am., v.93(3), pp.1395-1400.
D E , R EENA , S AHA , D.K. and C HAKRABORTY , P. (1995) A
microearthquake survey in the Himalayan foredeep region,
North Bengal area, Unpub. Geol. Surv. India Report.
JOUR.GEOL.SOC.INDIA, VOL.75, FEB. 2010
391
CONCLUSIONS
ySikkim Earthquake of 20th May 2007 with a magnitude of
5.0 induced a maximum intensity of VI (MSK) in parts
of West District.
y The trend of isoseismals, which is more or less similar
to the orientation of the MBF and MCT in this part of
the Himalaya, indicated a rupture along one of the
decollements extending in ENE-WSW directions as
the source of this event.
y The observation that a number of seismic events have
occurred along or in the vicinity of the Tista lineament
indicates that the lineament has an important bearing
on the accumulation of stress and release of tectonic
strain in this part of the Sikkim Himalaya.
y Trends as given out by the macroseismic study of the
instant event and the 14th February 2006 earthquake,
and the strike slip mechanism with NE-SW and NW-
SE nodal planes as revealed by the fault plane solutions
of some of the earlier events suggest that tectonic
features – along as well as transverse to the Himalayan
grain – are seismically active.
Acknowledgements: The authors express their gratitude
to Deputy Director General, Geological Survey of India,
Northern Region for according permission to publish this
paper. They are also thankful to Shri Harsh Gupta, Director,
Geological Survey of India, discussions with whom has
helped in the improvement of this paper.
DZIEWONSKI, A.M., et al. (1988) PEPI, 48, 18-46 & PEPI, v.50,
pp.127-154.
GRUNTHAL, G. (Ed.) (1993) Europian Macroseimic Scale 1992
(updated MSK scale), Cahiers du Centre Europeén de
Géodynamic et de Séismologic, v.7, pp.79.
GSI (1939) The Bihar-Nepal Earthquake of 1934. Mem. Geol.
Surv. India, v.73, pp.287-288.
JOSHI, K.C. and SENGUPTA, S. (2007) A report on geoseismological
study of 20th May 2007 Sikkim earthquake. Unpubl. Geol.
Surv. India Report.
MATTAUER, M. (1986) Intracontinental subduction crust mantle
decollement and crustal stacking wedge in the Himalayas and
other collision belts. Collision tectonics. Geophys. Soc. Spec.
Publ., No.19, pp.37-50.
NAKATA, T., OTSUKI, K. and KHAN, S.H. (1990) Active Faults, stress
field and plate motion along Indo Eurasian plate boundary,
Tectonophysics, v.181, pp.83-95.
NANDY, D.R. and DASGUPTA, S. (1991) Phy. Chem. Earth Series,
(K.K. Sharma Ed.), 18(I&II), Pergamon Press.
NARULA, P.L., ACHARYYA, S.K. and BANERJEE, J. (Eds.) (2000).
392 K. C. JOSHI AND OTHERS

Seismotectonic Atlas of India and its environs. Geol. Surv.
India Spec. Publ., No. 59.
NARULA, P.L. and SHOME, S.K. (1992) Macroseismic study of recent
earthquakes in Northwest Himalaya: A review, Curr. Sci. Spec.
Issue, v.62, No.1&2, pp.24-33.
NATH, SHANKAR KUMAR, SENGUPTA, PROBAL, SARADINDU SENGUPTA
and CHAKRABARTI, AMITABH (2000) Site response estimation
using strong motion network: A step towards microzonation
of the Sikkim Himalayas, Seismology 2000, Curr. Sci., v.79,
no.9, pp.1316-1333.
NI , J. and BARAZANGI , M.J. (1984) Seismotectonics of the
Himalayan Collision Zone, geometry of underthrusting Indian
plate beneath the Himalaya. Jour. Geophys. Res., v.89 (B2),
pp.1147-1163.
RASTOGI, B.K. (1992) Seismotectonics from earthquake sequences
in India during 1980s, Curr. Sci., v.62, nos.1&2, pp.101-108.
RAY, K.K. (1989) On the problem of lithostratigraphic classification
of the deformed Daling Group, its equivalents and related rocks
of Himalayas. Geol. Surv. India Spec. Publ., no.22, pp.1-5.
S EEBER , L. and A RMBRUSTER , J. (1981) Great detachment
earthquakes along the Himalayan arc and long term forecast,
Earthquake prediction: An international review, Maurice Ewing
series 4, Amer. Geophys. Union, Washington, D.C., pp.259-
277.
SOM, S.K., JANA P., BHATTACHARYA, U., BARDHAN SANDEEP, BASHIR
S.R. and GHOSH ROY, A.K. (2008) Macroseismic survey of
Sikkim earthquake, 14th February 2006. Jour. Geol. Soc. India,
v.71(4), pp.541-550.
SRINIVASAN, S. and KHAR, B.M. (1996) Status of hydrocarbon
exploration in Northwest Himalaya and foredeep –
Contributions to stratigraphy and structure. Geol. Surv. India
Spec. Publ., no.21, v.1, pp.295-405.

(Received: 5 May 2009; Revised form accepted: 3 September 2009)

Announcement

Geological Society of India

Annual General Meeting - 2010

and
National Seminar on “Tectonics of the Himalaya with
Focus on the Seismotectonics of NW Himalaya"
At the invitation of the Department of Geology and Geophysics, University of Kashmir, Hazratbal,
Srinagar - 190 006, Jammu and Kashmir, the Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the Geological Society
of India for 2010 will be held at Srinagar (J & K). A National Seminar organized by the Department of
Geology and Geophysics on “Tectonics of the Himalaya with Focus on the Seismotectonics of NW
Himalaya” will be held concurrently.

Scientists interested in participating in the National Seminar may please contact: Prof. Mohammad Ismail
Bhat, Professor and Head, Department of Geology and Geophysics, University of Kashmir, Hazratbal,
Srinagar - 190 006, Jammu and Kashmir. Phone: 0194-2422543 (O); 09419093690 (M); Fax: 0194-2421357;
Email: bhatmi@hotmail.com.

During the Annual Convention, it is customary to hold a session for the presentation of interesting
results of recent and ongoing research, especially by younger researchers, who are requested to
contact: Shri R.H. Sawkar, Secretary, Geological Society of India, No.63, 12th Cross, Basappa Layout,
Gavipuram P.O., P.B.No. 1922, Bangalore - 560 019; Telefax: 080-26613352, Phone: 080-22422943;
Email: gsocind@gmail.com

JOUR.GEOL.SOC.INDIA, VOL.75, FEB. 2010