On January 26, 2001 at 8:46 AM (local time), a magnitude Mw 7.5 earthquake struck the Kachchh area in Gujarat, India. This is the most damaging earthquake in India in the last 50 years. The earthquake epicenter is located to the north of Bacchau about 160 miles (250 km) west of Ahmadabad, India or about 180 miles (290 km) southeast of Hyderabad, Pakistan. The epicenter was at N23.399 E70.316 and a depth of 23.6 km according to USGS. The earthquake damaged dams, ports and bridges, obliterated small villages in Gujarat, and caused damage to Ahmedabad, a large city 250 km away from the epicenter.
As of 2 February 2001, the Department of Agriculture and Cooperation of the Indian Government reported more than 15,000 dead as the result of the earthquake. There are reports of ten of thousands of collapsed and damaged buildings, and a great number of people homeless. The January 26, 2001 earthquake took place in the Kachchh region, and appears to be an intraplate event with similarities with the 1811-1812 New Madrid sequence, which struck New Madrid, Missouri from December through January 1811-1812. First reports indicate that damage in Western India extends over large areas, as was observed in New Madrid, Missouri. The extent of casualties and damage and the similarities with existing conditions in the United States of America required the immediate dispatch of a NSF reconnaissance geotechnical team to document the geotechnical and engineering geology/seismology features of this earthquake.
This project provides funding necessary for sending a small advanced reconnaissance team to the area damaged by the January 26, 2001, Bhuj, India earthquake, and for documenting the geotechnical, and engineering seismology features of the earthquake in as much detail as possible. The reconnaissance team will be sent to India as soon as the emergency rescue efforts have slowed down, and the means of transport have been reestablished. The advanced reconnaissance team will be coordinated by J.P. Bardet of the University of Southern California. The advanced reconnaissance team will be followed by a larger reconnaissance team coordinated by Raymond Seed of the University of California, Berkeley. This larger team will be supported by a separate SGER grant from the National Science Foundation.
The proposed reconnaissance of this devastating earthquake is expected to yield useful information and data to understand the effects of large-scale intraplate events, and to apply those findings to the mitigation of similar earthquake hazards in mid-America.
