 Old Darbhanga Raj Palace damage, by the quake | |
   Kathmandu | |
| UTC time | 1934-01-15 08:43:25 |
|---|---|
| ISC event | 904745 |
| USGS-ANSS | ComCat |
| Local date | 15 January 1934 (1934-01-15) |
| Local time | 2:13 pmIST |
| Magnitude | 8.0Mw[1] |
| Depth | 15 km (9.3 mi)[1] |
| Epicenter | 26°52′N86°35′E / 26.86°N 86.59°E /26.86; 86.59[1] |
| Fault | Main Frontal-Himalayan Thrust |
| Type | Oblique[2] |
| Max. intensity | MMI X (Extreme)[3] |
| Casualties | 10,700–12,000 |
The1934 Nepal–India earthquake or1934 Bihar–Nepal earthquake was one of the worstearthquakes inIndia's history. The towns ofMunger andMuzaffarpur were completely destroyed. This 8.0magnitude earthquake occurred on 15 January 1934 at around 2:13 pmIST (08:43UTC) and caused widespread damage in northernBihar and inNepal.[4]
The epicentre for this event was located in eastern Nepal about 9.5 km (5.9 mi) south ofMount Everest.[5] The areas where the most damage to life and property occurred extended fromPurnea in the east toChamparan in the west (a distance of nearly 320 km or 200 mi), and fromKathmandu in the north toMunger in the south (a distance of nearly 465 km or 289 mi). The impact was reported to be felt inLhasa toBombay, and fromAssam toPunjab. The earthquake was so severe that inKolkata, around 650 km (404 mi) from epicenter, many buildings were damaged and the tower ofSt. Paul's Cathedral collapsed.[6]
A particular phenomenon of the earthquake was that sand and water vents appeared throughout the central vents of the earthquake area. The ground around these sand fissures subsided, causing more damage.[6] Extensiveliquefaction of the ground took place over a length of 300 km (called the slump belt) during the earthquake, in which many structures went afloat.[7]
In Muzaffarpur, sand fissures erupted at several places in town. The wells were choked with sand, while water levels in tanks became shallower due to sand deposited in the tank beds. Most of the buildings in Muzaffarpur were damaged. All the kutcha (ramshackle) buildings collapsed, while other pukka (solidly built) buildings suffered damage due to sinking and cracking of the ground.[6]
The three major towns of theKathmandu Valley inNepal—Kathmandu,Bhaktapur andPatan—were severely affected and almost all the buildings collapsed. Large cracks appeared in the ground and several roads were damaged in Kathmandu; however, thetemple ofPashupatinath, the guardian deity of Nepal, escaped any damage.[8] The 1618-meter-long Kosi Rail Bridge on theMetre Gauge Railway line connectingDarbhanga Raj withForbesganj was washed away and theRiver Kosi changed its path eastward.
InSitamarhi, not a single house was left standing. InBhagalpur district many buildings collapsed. InPatna, many buildings in the bazaar were destroyed and damage was particularly severe along the river.[6] InRajnagar, nearMadhubani, all the Kutcha buildings collapsed. The buildings ofDarbhanga Raj, including the famousNavlakha Palace, were severely damaged.[8] InJharia the earthquake led to further spread of underground fire.[9] The town ofBirgunj was destroyed, along with its telephone line to Kathmandu.[10]
The number of deaths was 10,700–12,000[5][3] with 7,253 recorded in Bihar.[8]
A 1935 work by Major General Brahma Shamsher documenting the event,Nepalko Maha Bhukampa 1990, stated that this was Nepal's most destructive earthquake in living memory, and praised theNepalese Army for its work in relief efforts.[10][11]
Mahatma Gandhi visited the Bihar state. He wrote that the Bihar earthquake wasprovidential retribution for India's failure to eradicateuntouchability.[12]Rabindranath Tagore took offence to the irrationality in his statement and accused Gandhi of superstition, even though he was totally in agreement with Gandhi on the issue of untouchability.[13][14] In Bihar, Sri Babu (Shri Krishna Sinha) and the other great leader Anugrah Babu (Anugrah Narayan Sinha), threw themselves into relief work.[15]Maghfoor Ahmad Ajazi, an eminent freedom fighter, worked extensively in the earthquake relief operations.[16][17] He operated several relief camps providing the affected people with food and shelter.[18]
