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 Copyright
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