Revisiting Two Damaging Indian Earthquakes of 1885: Kashmir and Bengal
Authors
-
Formerly at Geological Survey of India
Sujit Dasgupta -
Geological Survey of India, Map and Cartography Division, 29 J L Nehru Road, Kolkata – 700016
Basab Mukhopadhyay
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1007/s12594-019-1172-2Keywords:
No keywordsAbstract
The Kashmir earthquake (Mw 6.3) of 30 May 1885 and the Bengal earthquake (Mw 6.9) of 14 July 1885 were revisited incorporating data and information collated from newspaper archives, district gazetteers, Geological Survey of India records and other published documents. Isoseismal maps following MSK- 64 scale are presented for both the earthquakes with isoseist VIII to V reassigned and reconstructed. The Kashmir valley at the frontal Himalaya is seismically active where the 1885 earthquake locates between two large earthquakes of 2005 and 1555. The Bengal earthquake on the other hand originates close to the eastern India continental margin below the Bengal basin; the N-S trending Dhubri fault defining the eastern limit of the Garo-Rajmahal gap is arguably the causative fault. The 1930 Dhubri earthquake and another earthquake of 1935, are closely associated with the Dhubri fault. Epicentral tracts of both the earthquakes are densely populated and calls for mitigative preparedness.
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