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{{Short description|Earthquake in India}}
{{Use Indian English|date=December 2013}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2024}}
{{Infobox earthquake
|title= 1956 Anjar earthquake
|timestamp = 1956-07-21 15:32:30
|anss-url = iscgem888505
|isc-event = 888505
|local-date = {{Start date|1956|07|21|df=yes}}
|local-time = 21:02:30
|map2 = {{Location map | India |relief=1
| label=
| lat=23.3
| long=70.0
| mark=Bullseye1.png
| marksize=40
| position=top
| width= 250
| float=right
| caption=}}
|magnitude = 6.1 {{M|s|link=y}}
|depth=
|intensity= {{MMI|IX}}<ref name="NGDC">{{cite web|url=http://www.ngdc.noaa.gov/nndc/struts/results?eq_0=4103&t=101650&s=13&d=22,26,13,12&nd=display|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170113093935/https://www.ngdc.noaa.gov/nndc/struts/results?eq_0=4103&t=101650&s=13&d=22,26,13,12&nd=display|url-status=dead|archive-date=13 January 2017|title=Significant earthquake|last=National Geophysical Data Center|author-link=National Geophysical Data Center|accessdate=16 December 2013}}</ref>
|location={{coord|23.3|70.0|display=inline,title}}
|type = [[Fault (geology)#Dip-slip faults|Dip-slip]]
|countries affected = [[India]], [[Gujarat]]
|tsunami =
|casualties = approximately 115 reported dead and 254 injured.<ref name=k/><ref name=h/>
}}

The '''1956 Anjar earthquake''' occurred at 15:32 [[Coordinated Universal Time|UTC]] on 21 July, causing maximum damage in town of [[Anjar, India|Anjar]] in [[Kutch]], Gujarat, India. It had an estimated magnitude of 6.1 on the [[surface-wave magnitude]] scale and a maximum perceived intensity of IX on the [[Mercalli intensity scale]].<ref name=k/><ref name="Chung & Gao"/><ref name=z>[http://earthquakes.findthedata.org/l/3607/India-Anjar-Bhuj-Gandhidham-Kandla India: Anjar, Bhuj, Gandhidham, Kandla Earthquake, 1956]</ref>

==Earthquake==
The [[epicenter]] of earthquake of 21 July 1956 was at somewhere between Anjar and [[Bhadresar]],<ref>[http://asc-india.org/seismi/seis-gujarat.htm Earthquakes in Gujarat, India]</ref> very close to that of [[1819 Rann of Kutch earthquake|1819 Kutch earthquake]], between 50 and 120 km away depending on the epicentral location chosen for the earlier event. It caused considerable damage and casualties, especially in and around town of [[Anjar, India]]. The area of maximum damage was of 2000 km<sup>2</sup> and radius of perceptibility was 300 km.<ref name=k>{{cite book|author=J.R. Kayal|title=Microearthquake Seismology and Seismotectonics of South Asia|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=POLg0eGi3EAC&pg=PA393|year=2008|publisher=Springer Science & Business Media|isbn=978-1-4020-8180-4|page=393|bibcode=2008msss.book.....K}}</ref> The cause of earthquake was [[Fault (geology)|reverse faulting]], similar to that which caused the 1819 earthquake.<ref name="Chung & Gao">{{cite journal | title=Source parameters of the Anjar earthquake of July 21, 1956, India, and its seismotectonic implications for the Kutch rift basin | author=Chung W.-Y. & Gao H. | journal=Tectonophysics | year=1995 | volume=242 | issue=3–4 | pages=281–292 | doi=10.1016/0040-1951(94)00203-L| bibcode=1995Tectp.242..281C }}</ref>

==Damage==
The town of Anjar and the [[Taluka]] of Anjar were the most affected region with 2000 houses damaged, of which half of them were in Anjar town alone. The other towns affected were [[Bhuj]], [[Kera, Kutch|Kera]], [[Bhachau]], [[Gandhidham]] and port town of [[Kandla]].<ref name=h/><ref name=z/> At least 115 people were reported to have died and casualties numbered to 254 as per government records.<ref name=k/><ref name=h>{{cite news|title=Quake rocks Kutch|url=http://www.hindu.com/2006/07/24/stories/2006072400940900.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110824132322/http://www.hindu.com/2006/07/24/stories/2006072400940900.htm|url-status=dead|archive-date=24 August 2011|accessdate=16 December 2013|newspaper=[[The Hindu]]|date=24 July 1956}}</ref> It was estimated that more than 3,000 houses in 25 villages developed huge cracks, losses ran up to {{INR|link=yes}}10 million. Such devastation wreaked by the quake made it one of the worst calamities to hit Kutch in the past 100 years. More than 8,000 people migrated from the district a few days after the quake. The earthquake was followed by heavy rains, which added to the misery of thousands living in temporary camps.<ref>[http://timesfoundation.indiatimes.com/articleshow/msid-980289,curpg-18.cms Times Relier Fund for Anjar Earthquake of 1956.]</ref>

Anjar, which is a historic town and very congested in the old parts was largely destroyed in this earthquake of 1956. Later, new houses were raised on old foundations, and in due course of time also the new township of [[Naya Anjar]] or New Anjar township was founded after this earthquake for rehabilitation purpose.<ref>Understanding Earthquake Disasters by Amita Sinvhal – 2010 – Page 97.</ref><ref>[http://www.conservationtech.com/india-unesco/unesco-report.htm UNESCO MISSION TO GUJARAT, INDIA, FOR THE CONSERVATION OF EARTHQUAKE-DAMAGED CULTURAL PROPERTIES]</ref><ref>Gujarat State Gazetteer by U. M. Chokshi, M. R. Trivedi – 1991 – Volume 2 – Page 527.</ref> The railway track near Anjar was damaged as the earth gave way over a length of nearly 50 feet,<ref>Indian Journal of Meteorology & Geophysics – Volume 10 – 1959 – Page 137</ref> however, other major railway lines, roads, bridges, culverts, were not affected by this earthquake.<ref>Proceedings of the Indian Science Congress – Volume 44 – 1957 – Page 167.</ref>

==Other events==
The next major earthquake in the region was of [[2001 Gujarat earthquake|26 January 2001]], which again was due to a similar style of faulting as the 1819 earthquake.<ref name="Chung & Gao"/>

==See also==
*[[List of earthquakes in 1956]]
*[[List of earthquakes in India]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
*{{EQ-isc-link|888505}}

{{Earthquakes in 1956}}
{{Earthquakes in India}}

[[Category:Earthquakes in Gujarat|1956]]
[[Category:1956 earthquakes]]
[[Category:July 1956 in Asia]]
[[Category:Kutch district]]
[[Category:History of Gujarat (1947–present)]]
[[Category:1956 in India]]
[[Category:History of Kutch]]
[[Category:Earthquakes in India|1956]]
[[Category:1956 disasters in India]]

1956 Anjar earthquake - Revision history

Doonedu at 03:25, 26 April 2025