Earthquake:

An earthquake (also known as a quake, tremor or temblor) is the shaking of the surface of the
Earth, resulting from the sudden release of energy in the Earth's lithosphere that creates seismic
waves. Earthquakes can range in size from those that are so weak that they cannot be felt to those
violent enough to toss people around and destroy whole cities. The seismicity, or seismic
activity, of an area is the frequency, type and size of earthquakes experienced over a period of
time. The word tremor is also used for non-earthquake seismic rumbling.

At the Earth's surface, earthquakes manifest themselves by shaking and displacing or disrupting
the ground. When the epicenter of a large earthquake is located offshore, the seabed may be
displaced sufficiently to cause a tsunami. Earthquakes can also trigger landslides, and occasionally
volcanic activity.

In its most general sense, the word earthquake is used to describe any seismic event — whether
natural or caused by humans — that generates seismic waves. Earthquakes are caused mostly by
rupture of geological faults, but also by other events such as volcanic activity, landslides, mine
blasts, and nuclear tests. An earthquake's point of initial rupture is called its focus or hypocenter.
The epicenter is the point at ground level directly above the hypocenter.

What earthquakes do:

 Casualties: loss of life and injury.

 Loss of housing.
 Damage to infrastructure.
 Disruption of transport and communications.
 Panic
 Looting.
 Breakdown of social order.
 Loss of industrial output.
 Loss of business.
 Disruption of marketing systems

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Bhuj earthquake:

The 2001 Gujarat earthquake, also known as the Bhuj earthquake, occurred on 26 January, India's
52nd Republic Day, at 08:46 AM IST and lasted for over 2 minutes. The earthquake’s epicenter
was 20km from Bhuj. A city with a population of 140,000 in 2001. The city is in the region known
as the Kutch region. The effects of the earthquake were also felt on the north side of the Pakistan
border, in Pakistan 18 people were killed.

Bhuj earthquake an arial view

The earthquake was caused at the convergent plate boundary between the Indian plate and the
Eurasian plate boundary. These pushed together and caused the earthquake. However as Bhuj is
in an intraplate zone, the earthquake was not expected, this is one of the reasons so many buildings
were destroyed – because people did not build to earthquake resistant standards in an area
earthquakes were not thought to occur. In addition the Gujarat earthquake is an excellent example
of liquefaction, causing buildings to ‘sink’ into the ground which gains a consistency of a liquid
due to the frequency of the earthquake.

Background:

India : Vulnerability to earthquakes

 56% of the total area of the Indian Republic is vulnerable to seismic activity.
 12% of the area comes under Zone V (A&N Islands, Bihar, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, J&K,
N.E.States, Uttaranchal)
 18% area in Zone IV (Bihar, Delhi, Gujarat, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, J&K, Lakshadweep,
Maharashtra, Punjab, Sikkim, Uttaranchal, W. Bengal)
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 26% area in Zone III (Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Goa, Gujarat, Haryana, Kerala, Maharashtra,
Orissa, Punjab, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Uttaranchal, W. Bengal)
 Gujarat: an advanced state on the west coast of India.
 On 26 January 2001, an earthquake struck the Kutch district of Gujarat at 8.46 am.
 Epicentre 20 km North East of Bhuj, the headquarter of Kutch.

 The Indian Meteorological Department estimated the intensity of the earthquake at 6.9 Richter.
According to the US Geological Survey, the intensity of the quake was 7.7 Richter.
 The quake was the worst in India in the last 180 year.

Effects:

The death toll in the Kutch region was 12,300. Bhuj, which was situated only 20 km away from
the epicentre, was devastated. Considerable damage also occurred in Bhachau and Anjar with
hundreds of villages flattened in Taluka of Anjar, Bhuj and Bhachau. Over a million structures
were damaged or destroyed, including many historic buildings and tourist attractions. The quake
destroyed around 40% of homes, eight schools, two hospitals and 4 km of road in Bhuj, and partly
destroyed the city's historic Swaminarayan temple and historic fort as well Prag Mahal and Aina
Mahal. The Indian National Trust for Arts and Cultural Heritage (INTACH) inspected more than
250 heritage buildings in Kutch and Saurashtra and found that about 40% of them are either
collapsed or seriously damaged. Only 10% were undamaged.

In Ahmedabad, Gujarat's commercial capital with a population of 6.4 million, as many as 50 multi-
storey buildings collapsed and several hundred people were killed. Total property damage was
estimated at $7.5 billion. In Kutch, the earthquake destroyed about 60% of food and water supplies
and around 258,000 houses, 90% of the district's housing stock. The biggest setback was the total
demolition of the Bhuj Civil hospital. The Indian military provided emergency support which was
later augmented by the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Society. A
temporary Red Cross hospital remained in Bhuj to provide care while a replacement hospital was
built.

There are six municipal corporations and 143 municipalities in Gujarat. Five municipal
corporations and 57 municipalities were affected by the earthquake. There were damages to urban

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and environmental infrastructure such as water supply, storage system, sanitation, solid waste
management, municipal roads, municipal dispensaries, street lighting, municipal administrative
buildings, and other buildings such as laboratories, town halls, and municipal markets

Serious nutritional implication of the earthquake on poor rural households is not sufficiently
recognized. Public attention is focused on casualties and infrastructure damage, mainly in urban
areas. The poor households are mainly marginal farmers and landless laborers belonging to
schedule caste and schedule tribes. In districts close to the epicenter of the earthquake food
insecurity and malnutrition of rural households is among the highest in the state, even in normal
years. More than 50% of children are stunted and 45.5% wasted with high prevalence of Anemia
among children. [National Health Family Services (NHFS) 1998-99]

The situation in rural areas is made worse by two consecutive years of drought. Many households
have fled with no reserves. In essence, the earthquake has severely aggravated and disrupted
household livelihood, food supplies, distribution channels, and income generation opportunities.

Numerous aftershocks between 3 and 5.2 on the Richter scale occurred in the affected area and
have been felt throughout the region giving the surviving population and the relief organizations
no respite.

Most of the populations in Bhuj, Bachchao, and Anjar are migrating to areas where temporary
shelter relief assistance is more abundant, or where extended families can provide for their needs.

The Natural Disaster Management Control Room located at the Ministry of Agriculture in Delhi
reported on 6 February 2001 that 12,250 cattle died, 228,906 houses/huts were destroyed and
397,615 houses/huts were damaged. According to preliminary assessments, the damage to
buildings and infrastructure amounts close to Rs. 6 billion (1.2 billion USD).

A Summary:

 The earthquake devastated Kutch. Practically all buildings and structures of Kutch were
brought down.

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 Ahmedabad, Rajkot, Jamnagar, Surendaranagar and Patan were heavily damaged.
 Nearly 19,000 people died. Kutch alone reported more than 17,000 deaths.
 1.66 lakh people were injured. Most were handicapped for the rest of their lives.
 The dead included 7,065 children (0-14 years) and 9,110 women.
 There were 348 orphans and 826 widows.
 Nearly 4 lakh houses were completely destroted.
 About 6 lakh people left homeless.
 About 12250 cattles were dead.

Disaster loss:

 Initial estimate Rs. 200 billion.

 Came down to Rs. 144 billion.
 No inventory of buildings
 Non-engineered buildings
 Land and buildings
 Stocks and flows
 Reconstruction costs (Rs. 106 billion) and loss estimates (Rs. 99 billion) are different
 Public good considerations

Human Impact: Tertiary effects:

 Affected 15.9 million people out of 37.8 in the region (in areas such as Bhuj, Bhachau, Anjar,
Ganhidham, Rapar)
 High demand for food, water, and medical care for survivors
 Humanitarian intervention by groups such as Oxfam: focused on Immediate response and then
rehabilitation
 Of survivors, many require persistent medical attention
 Region continues to require assistance long after quake has subsided
 International aid vital to recovery

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Social Impacts:

 80% of water and food sources were destroyed.

 The obvious social impacts are that around 20,000 people were killed and near 200,000 were
injured.
 However at the same time, looting and violence occurred following the quake, and this affected
many people too.
 On the other hand, the earthquake resulted in millions of USD in aid, which has since allowed
the Bhuj region to rebuild itself and then grow in a way it wouldn’t have done otherwise.
 The final major social effect was that around 400,000 Indian homes were destroyed resulting
in around 2 million people being made homeless immediately following the quake.

Economic Impacts:

 Total damage estimated at around $7 billion. However $18 billion of aid was invested in the
Bhuj area.
 Over 15km of tarmac road networks were completely destroyed.
 In the economic capital of the Gujarat region, Ahmedabad, 58 multi storey buildings were
destroyed, these buildings contained many of the businesses which were generating the wealth
of the region.
 Many schools were destroyed and the literacy rate of the Gujarat region is now the lowest
outside southern India.

National/Government Response:

The central Government immediately launched a massive rescue and relief operation by
mobilizing available resources and personnel to mitigate the suffering of the victims. The initial
relief effort is centrally coordinated by the Natural Disaster Management Control Room, which
works closely together with the State Government of Gujarat .

As of 5 February 2001, the central Government has announced financial assistance of IRS 500.00
Crores equaling USD 1 billion. In addition, the Central Government made available close to 95,000

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MT of food. Other relief items dispatched through the Central Government include clothing and
tents, medical supplies and personnel, fuel and communication equipment.

Several states including the neighbouring States of Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Mahashtra
have provided food, blankets, medical supplies and personnel and a wide variety of other relief
items.

The Relief Commissioner of Bhuj has established a NGO coordination centre. Sub-centres will be
established after the Relief Commission of Bhuj’s more thorough assessments.

Response by NGOs:

There were over 300 NGOs involved with relief operations in Gujarat. The Kutch Navnirman
Abhiyan network is gathering itself to undertake a monumental relief operation, probably the
greatest ever trial of their physical, moral and emotional strength. Over 200 NGOs of Gujarat state
have come together under the aegis of Janpath Citizen's Initiative to support the Abhiyan network
and other voluntary relief efforts in Kutch and similar relief operations in other affected districts
of Gujarat. Experienced Self-Employed Womens’Association (SEWA) teams have been in the
field since the day of the earthquake, trying to get an accurate assessment of the damage amid the
confusion and rumors, going directly to the people affected in order to ascertain their needs.

International Response:

The International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies launched an appeal
seeking CHF 25,596,629 million equaling USD 15.6 million to assist 300,000 beneficiaries for
four months. The appeal requests funds, support in-kind and services to meet immediate basic
needs of the most vulnerable including provision of shelter, medical services and supplies, water
and sanitation equipment and other relief supplies. So far cash and in-kind contributions worth
nearly USD 10 million have been provided towards IFRC initiatives. IFRC has a small team base
in Anjar, south east of Bhuj and the emergency response unit (ERU) referral hospital in Bhuj is
currently being established.

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In addition, many international NGOs have been responding and are active in the area.

22 Search and Rescue (SAR) teams made up of 399 rescuers and 26 rescue dogs equipped with
technical and rescue equipment assisted in the search and rescue operation. Medical and SAR
teams from Denmark, France, Germany, Hungary, Israel, Italy/Spain, Japan, Mexico, Poland, the
Russian Federation, South Africa, Switzerland, Turkey, USA, and the United Kingdom have been
involved in the Search and Rescue operation. Since the rescue phase is now over, most SAR teams
have left.

In addition, the Governments of Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Finland,

Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Luxembourg, Monaco, Nepal, the Netherlands, New
Zealand, Norway, Oman, the Russian Federation, Singapore, Spain, Sweden, the United Kingdom
and the United States as well as ECHO have pledged or provided cash and/or in-kind contributions
bilaterally or through NGOs or the UN System.

United Nations Response:

The in-country UN System through the UN Disaster Management Team (UNDMT) led by the UN
Resident Coordinator has been working closely with Government authorities and has convened
emergency meetings on a daily basis to review the situation and coordinate the UN response. The
UNDMT officer and the Rajasthan Coordinator were immediately redeployed to Gujarat. Staff
from the UNDP Emergency Response Division have been redeployed to boost assessment and
coordination services.

The Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) immediately mobilized and
deployed a five-member United Nations Disaster Assessment and Coordination (UNDAC) Team
on 27 January. In Ahemdabad, a Reception Centre for registering in-coming teams and relief items
was established at the airport during the rescue operation. The team established an On-Site
Operations Coordination Centre (OSOCC), in close collaboration with the Indian authorities and
the relevant UN agencies. The centre is next to the Indian Disaster Commissioner’s Office in Bhuj.
The OSOCC in Bhuj includes the WHO Disease Surveillance desk. On 2 February, the sixth
UNDAC member from the Government of Denmark arrived in New Delhi and has been assisting

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the UNDMT there in liaising between the capital and the affected area to strengthen the
coordination system.

The UNDMT is working together with Ericsson and Ham Radio on setting up communications
systems in the affected area.

Despite the above mentioned coordination efforts, it is extremely difficult to quantify the full
extent of aid required at this stage.

All UN organizations have assessment teams in the field.

UNDP:

The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) has mobilized US$ 650,000 from the
Government of the UK to set up a UN System coordination mechanism. The purpose of this
mechanism is to ensure appropriate assessment, identification of activities, designing and
implementation of project proposals, monitoring and quality control thus establishing the
necessary bridge between relief and development.

In addition, the Government of Italy has announced a contribution of US$ 1.7 million to
complement the above-mentioned Co-ordination mechanism as well as for shelter and integrated
recovery activities.

USAID is providing USD 400,000 for relief items such as shelter and family kits and as support
to the coordination mechanisms of NGOs and the UN.

UNDP is providing US$100,00 for immediate relief in partnership with two of the leading
women’s organizations in Gujarat - the Self-Employed Women’s Association (SEWA) and the
NGO Kutch Mahila Vikas Sangthan. An earthquake resistant shelter expert has been stationed in
Gujarat.

UNV:

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The United Nations Volunteers (UNV) has provided the Nehru Yuva Kendra Sangathan (NYKS)
US$10,000 to fund 33 volunteers to work in Gujarat initially for a month and further funds are
sought to fund them for a longer period. All these volunteers are from the local communities.
Currently 400 NYKS youth volunteers from existing NYKS clubs are in place and NYKS is
planning to increase the number of volunteers. The UNV Disaster Management Coordinator has
been redeployed from Orissa to Gujarat.

WHO:

The World Health Organization (WHO) responded rapidly to the earthquake by mobilizing three
poliomyelitis eradication surveillance medical officers already in Gujarat and placed a staff
member expert in emergency and humanitarian action in Ahmedabad on 27 January, the morning
after the earthquake. Two tuberculosis control medical officers and one water and sanitation expert
from WHO India country programme have been providing technical assistance in Gujarat. WHO
staff from country and regional offices are collaborating with state and local health authorities in
the coordination of health activities. As of 4 February, WHO had already deployed seventeen
public health experts to Ahmedabad and Bhuj, Kutch district, one being a public health expert
from the WHO Regional Office for the Americas with broad experience in earthquakes.

The main areas of activity of WHO are (1) Rapid assessment of health needs of populations in
affected areas in cooperation with UNDAC; (2) Technical advice to the Government, UN agencies,
bilateral agencies and NGOs on priority public health issues in the aftermath of an earthquake; (3)
Support to the Government in establishing disease surveillance in the affected areas, including an
early warning system and capacity for rapid response to epidemics; (4) Collaborating in health
sector coordination; (5) Providing and facilitating the provision of trauma kits, emergency health
kits and other essential medical supplies; (6) Offering technical support for emergency repairs of
water distribution system, water treatment and temporary distribution, sanitation and solid waste
disposal, food safety, vector and zoonosis control; and (7) Supporting the re-establishment and
rehabilitation of health services in affected areas with special attention to primary health care.

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Rehabilitation/Recovery:

Four months after the earthquake the Gujarat government announced the Gujarat Earthquake
Reconstruction and Rehabilitation Policy. The policy proposed a different approach to urban and
rural construction with the estimated cost of rebuilding to be US$1.77 billion.

The main objectives of the policy included repairing, building, and strengthening houses and
public buildings. Other objectives included the revival of the economy, health support, and
reconstruction of the community and social infrastructure.

Housing:

The housing policy focused on the removal of rubble, setting up temporary shelters, full
reconstruction of damaged houses, and the retrofitting of undamaged units. The policy established
a community-driven housing recovery process. The communities affected by the earthquake were
given the option for complete or partial relocation to in-situ reconstruction. The total number of
eligible houses to be repaired was 929,682 and the total number of eligible houses to be
reconstructed was 213,685. By 2003, 882,896 (94%) houses were repaired and 113,271 (53%)
were reconstructed.

City planning:

The Environmental Planning Collaborative (EPC) was commissioned to provide a new city plan
for the city of Bhuj. The plan focused on creating a wider roadway network to provide emergency
access to the city. The EPC used land readjustment (LR) in the form of eight town planning
schemes. This was implemented by deducting land from private lot sizes to create adequate public
land for the widening of roadways. The remaining land was readjusted and given back to the
original owners as final plots.

Health:

There was extensive damage to the health infrastructure. Two district hospitals (at Bhuj and
Gandhidham), 21 Community Health Centers (CHCs), 48 Primary Health Centers (PHCs), 227
sub-centers, 800 anganwadis, six Integrated Child Development Schemes (1CDS) godowns, 11

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Chief District Project Offices (CDPOs), 96 ayurveda dispensanes, 21 homeopathic dispensaries,
and one food laboratory were completely destroyed. In addition, a number of buildings suffered
major and minor damages. The total damage was estimated at Rs 219 crore. The cost of
reconstruction was estimated to be Rs 279 crore. Some details are given below.

Education:

Educational activities were affected in many districts on account of the damage to physical
infrastructure. The worst affected districts were Kutch, Banaskantha, Patan, Rajkot and
Surendranagar. About 1,884 school buildings collapsed with 5,950 classrooms were totally
destroyed. Many school buildings were damaged. In all, 9,593 primary school buildings were
damaged or destroyed. Schools remained closed for about a month. A total of 31 teachers died and
95 were injured. There were 971 students who died (910 from primary schools. 37 from secondary
schools, three from colleges and 21 from technical institutions), 1.051 others were mjured.
Consequently, over 42,000 schoolrooms needed to be repaired.

Relief:

In order to support the reconstruction and rehabilitation of the city, the Government of
Gujarat created four assistance packages worth up to US$1 billion. These packages assisted about
300,000 families. The government also announced a US$2.5 million package to revive small,
medium, and cottage industries. The World Bank and the Asian Development Bank also provided
loans worth $300 million and $500 million respectively.

Assistance was offered from many countries and organisations.

International assistance

Country Relief Offered

Australia US$550,000

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Bangladesh 20,000 tons of rice and a 12-member medical team

Belgium US$920,000

Canada US$2 million

China US$602,000

Greece US$270,000 in financial aid relief supplies

Israel 150 member emergency aid mission

Italy US$2.3 million for emergency equipment

Kuwait US$250,000

The Netherlands US$2.5 million through UNICEF

New Zealand US$200,000 grant

Pakistan 13 tons of relief material such as blankets and food

Syria Medical and other relief supplies

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 Taiwan US$100,000

United Kingdom £10 million

United States Relief supplies up to US$5 million

UAE, Vietnam, Saudi Arabia Relief material and supplies

Leasons Learnt:
Natural disasters like earthquake can’t be predicated. The foremost requirement is construction of
seismically safe structures at proper locations in the earthquake prone areas. A large population of
the country live in the highly seismically active regions. To better deal with the hazard the art of
living with earthquakes has to be learnt.
The attempt to recovery and reconstruction process should have strong emphasis on proper
understanding and awareness of the risk among different stakeholders, sufficient level of training
and confidence building among the professionals and the masons and preparing appropriate
planning and mitigation strategies for useful implementation.
The Gujarat earthquake has given a sort of ‘National wakeup call’ to look within and introspect
again on the state of disaster preparedness of the country. There should be a national learning to
take appropriate or specific steps for disaster reduction, mitigation, prevention and preparedness.
This earthquake can be regarded as an opportunity to learn from this disaster and to work to never
let it happen. Therefore, there is a need to learn lessons from this event and a plan must be designed
for the areas located in the high earthquake risk zones to mitigate the impacts of future earthquakes.
Development and disaster should go hand in hand. Development models must have in-built
components of disaster reduction, mitigation and preparedness.

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