INTRODUCTION

The powerful earthquake that struck the Kutch area in

Gujarat at 8:46 am on 26 January 2001 has been the
most damaging earthquake in the last five decades in
India.
The M7.9 quake caused a large loss of life and property.
Over 18,600 persons are to be dead and over 1,67,000
were injured.
The estimated economic loss due to this quake is
around Rs. 22,000 Crores (~US$5 billions).
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 highest damage
with maximum intensity of shaking as high as X on the
MSK intensity scale.
Several towns and large villages, like Bhuj, Anjaar, Vondh and
Bhachau sustained widespread destruction.

The other prominent failures in the Kutch region include
1. extensive liquefaction
2. failure of several earth dams of about 20m height
3. damage to masonry arch and RC bridges and
4. failure of railroad and highway embankments.

Numerous recently-built multistory RC frame buildings
collapsed in Gandhidham and Bhuj in the Kutch region, and in
the more distant towns of
1. Morbi ( ~125km east of Bhuj),
2. Rajkot (~150km southeast of Bhuj) and
3. Ahmedabad (~300km east of Bhuj)
4. Surat (~375km southeast of Bhuj)
collapsed killing a large number of people.

The strong motion records obtained from the region at the
Passport Office Building under construction in Ahmedabad city
indicate a peak ground acceleration of about 0.11g.

GEOGRAPHICAL FEATURES OF BHUJ REGION

Bhuj is a city and a municipality in Kutch district in the
state of Gujarat. Bhuj has an average elevation of
110 meters (360 feet).

On the eastern side of the town is a hill known as
Bhujiyo Dungar, on which there is Bhujia Fort, that
separates Bhuj city and Madhapar town.

It has one big lake named Hamirsar and several small
lakes.

Much of the fort wall was collapsed due to the the
earthquake of 2001.


GEOLOGY OF KUTCH
GEOMORPHOLOGY
Geomorphologically, Kutch (Kachchh) is categorize
into four major E-W trending zones:
Coastal zone demarcating the southern fringe
Kachchh mainland devided in to central portion
comprising rocky upland, northern hillrange and
coastal plains
Banni plains (less than 5m MSL) marked by raised
fluviomarine sediments, mud flats and slat fans
The two Ranns Great Rann (2m MSL) in the north
and Little Rann in the east comprising saline
wasteland.

CAUSES OF EARTHQUAKE
The Mw 7.7, 2001 Kutch (Bhuj) earthquake that
occurred in the northwestern fringes.

The main fault rupture did not reach the surface

The epicentral area is characterized by the
development of secondary features, including
flexures and folds that are related to compressional
deformation, in a wide area of the Banni Plain.

The earthquake also induced widespread
liquefaction, leading to ground failure including
lateral spreading.

FAULT LINES RUNNING ACROSS THE KUTCH REGION

Blind/Hidden
faults