1905 Kangra earthquake

Background

The calculated epicenter of the earthquake lies within the zone of thrusts along the front of the Himalayas formed by the continuing collision of the Indian plate into the Eurasian plate. Underthrusting of the Indian subcontinent beneath Tibet along a 2,500 km long convergent boundary known as the Main Himalayan Thrust has resulted in the uplifting of the overriding Eurasian plate, thus creating the long mountain range parallel to the convergent zone.

Earthquake characteristics

The magnitude 7.8–7.9 earthquake struck the western Himalaya in the state of Himachal Pradesh at an estimated depth of 6 km along a very shallow dipping thrust fault, likely on the Main Himalayan Thrust detachment. The rupture area is calculated at 280 km × 80 km. The rupture did not reach the surface, therefore, is considered a blind thrust earthquake. A more recent study in 2005 estimated the rupture zone at 110 km × 55 km while still not breaking the surface.

Damage

The earthquake reached its peak Rossi–Forel intensity of X in Kangra. About 150 km away from this zone to the southeast, an area of increased intensity reaching VIII was recorded. This unusually high intensity away from the earthquake in the Indo-Gangetic Plain included the cities Dehradun and Saharanpur. It was felt VII in towns like Kasauli, Bilaspur, Chamba, and Lahore. The Ramgarhia Bunga in Amritsar suffered damages, especially to the top domes of its two burj watchtowers.

As many as 100,000 buildings were reported to have been demolished by the earthquake. At least 20,000 people are estimated to have been killed and 53,000 domestic animals were also lost. There was also major damage to the network of hillside aqueducts that fed water to the affected area. The total cost of recovering from the effects of the earthquake was calculated at 2.9 million (1905) rupees.

References

References

1. (2016). "Simulation of strong ground motion for 1905 Kangra earthquake and a possible megathrust earthquake (Mw 8.5) in western Himalaya (India) using Empirical Green's Function technique". Natural Hazards.
2. (2013). "Intensity attenuation relation at Chamba–Garhwal area in north-west Himalaya with epicentral distance and magnitude". Journal of Earth System Science.
3. [http://123himachal.com/dharamsala/links/1905.htm Dharamsala Earthquake 1905 – Images]
4. [http://www.hpkangra.nic.in/history.htm History] {{webarchive. link. (2007-12-21 ''[[Kangra district]]'' Official website.)
5. [https://dsal.uchicago.edu/reference/gazetteer/pager.html?objectid=DS405.1.I34_V01_128.gif Earthquakes] ''[[The Imperial Gazetteer of India]]'', v. 1, ''p. 98.''
6. "Geodetic Study of the Kangra Earthquake 1905".
7. (2017). "India plate angular velocity and contemporary deformation rates from continuous GPS measurements from 1996 to 2015". Scientific Reports.
8. (1994). "Minimum norm inversion of observed ground elevation changes for slips on the causative fault during the 1905 Kangra earthquake". Proceedings of the Indian Academy of Sciences – Earth and Planetary Sciences.
9. (2005). "Future Mw 8 earthquake in Himalaya: Implication for the 26 December, 2004 M = 9 earthquake on eastern margin". Geological Survey India.
10. "Significant Earthquake Information INDIA: KANGRA". NCEI.
11. Teja, Charanjit Singh. (7 June 2025). "In photos: Echoes of valour & faith resound at grand Sikh structure Ramgarhia Bunga". The Tribune.
12. (6 June 2014). "THEN TOP LOST IN 1905, MORE DAMAGE IN '84". Hindustan Times (Bathinda).
13. (2000). "A note on the Kangra Ms = 7.8 earthquake of 4 April 1905". Current Science Association.
14. (1 March 1906). "The Kangra Earthquake of April 4, 1905". Nature.
15. (2010). "A Catalog of Felt Intensity Data for 570 Earthquakes in India from 1636 to 2009". [[Seismological Society of America]].
16. Utsu, T. R.. (2002). "International Handbook of Earthquake & Engineering Seismology". [[Academic Press]].