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{{Short description|Earthquake in Himachal Pradesh, India}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2024}}
{{Infobox earthquake
|title = 1975 Kinnaur earthquake
|timestamp = 1975-01-19 08:02:02
|anss-url = usp00009jd
|isc-event = 733389
|local-date = {{Start-date|19 January 1975}}
|local-time = 13:32:02
|map2 = {{Location map | India
| label =
| lat = 32.46
| long = 78.432
| mark = Bullseye1.png
| marksize = 50
| position = top
| width = 250
| float = right
| caption =
| relief = yes}}
|magnitude = 6.8 {{M|s|link=y}}
|depth = 33 km
|type = [[Fault (geology)#Dip-slip faults|Normal]]
|location ={{coord|32.46|78.43|display=inline,title}}<ref name="NGDC">{{cite web|url=http://www.ngdc.noaa.gov/nndc/struts/results?eq_0=4677&t=101650&s=13&d=22,26,13,12&nd=display|archive-url=https://archive.today/20121214105826/http://www.ngdc.noaa.gov/nndc/struts/results?eq_0=4677&t=101650&s=13&d=22,26,13,12&nd=display|url-status=dead|archive-date=14 December 2012|title=Comments for the Significant Earthquake|author=NGDC|accessdate=27 August 2010}}</ref>
|countries affected = [[India]], [[Himachal Pradesh]]
|intensity = {{MMI|IX}}
|casualties = 47
}}

[[File:Ki Monastery.jpg|thumb|[[Key Monastery]] and the [[Spiti Valley]], seriously affected by the Kinnaur earthquake]]

An [[earthquake]] occurred in [[Kinnaur district]] in [[Himachal Pradesh]], northern [[India]], in the early afternoon (local time) (08:02 [[Coordinated universal time|UTC]]) of 19 January 1975. It had a magnitude of 6.8 on the [[surface-wave magnitude]] scale and a maximum perceived intensity of IX (''Violent'') on the [[Mercalli intensity scale]], causing extensive damage.<ref name="BSSA">{{cite book|url=http://bssa.geoscienceworld.org/cgi/content/abstract/66/3/887|title=The Kinnaur earthquake of January 19, 1975: A field report|date=June 1976 |volume=66 |issue=3 |publisher=[[Seismological Society of America]], June 1976; v. 66; no. 3; pp. 887–901}}</ref><ref name=khattir>{{Cite journal|last=Khattri|first=K.|author2=Rai K.|author3=Jain A.K.|author4=Sinvhal H.|author5=Gaur V.K.|author6=Mithal R.S.|name-list-style=amp|title=The Kinnaur earthquake, Himachal Pradesh, India, of 19 January, 1975|journal=Tectonophysics|volume= 49|issue= 1–2|pages=1–21|doi=10.1016/0040-1951(78)90095-1|bibcode = 1978Tectp..49....1K |year=1978}}</ref> It caused 47 casualties.<ref name="BSSA"/> Landslides, rock falls and avalanches caused major damage to the [[Hindustan-Tibet Road]].<ref name="BSSA"/> The earthquake affected many monasteries and buildings in the state and led to an extensive restoration work in the late 1970s and early 1980s in Himachal Pradesh. The [[Spiti Valley|Spiti]] and [[Parachu]] valleys in particular suffered the greatest damage being on the north–south Kaurik-Chango fault,<ref name="BSSA"/> causing damage to landmarks such as [[Key Monastery]] and [[Tabo Monastery]].

==Tectonic setting==
The state of Himachal Pradesh lies towards the southern boundary of the Himalayan mountain belt, which was formed by the [[continental collision|collision]] between the [[Indian plate]] and the [[Eurasian plate]]. The mountain building that formed the Himalayas is an example of [[thrust tectonics]] and is dominated by [[thrust fault]]ing.<ref name="Mugnier">{{cite book |last1=Mugnier |first1=J.L. |last2=Huyghe |first2=P. |last3=Leturny |first3=P. |author4=Jouanne F. |editor=McClay K.R. |title=Thrust tectonics and hydrocarbon systems |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=M8Vxl-wg07YC&pg=PA92|series=Memoir |volume=82 |year=2004 |publisher=[[American Association of Petroleum Geologists|AAPG]] |isbn=978-0-89181-363-7 |pages=91–92 |chapter=Episodicity and rates of thrust-sheet motion in the Himalayas (Western Nepal) |accessdate=6 December 2013}}</ref> There is however, a significant amount of [[Extensional tectonics|extension]] along the length of the mountain belt, possibly related to its arcuate form, with the extension accommodating the bulging out of the frontal part of the Himalayas. However, the faulting in the NW Himalayas demonstrates west–east extension, which is at a fairly high angle to the trend of the main thrust structures and may be better explained as partly accommodating the eastward spreading of the [[Tibetan Plateau]].<ref name="Hintersberger">{{cite journal|last=Hintersberger|first=E.|author2=Thiede R.C.|author3=Strecker M.R.|author4=Hacker B.R.|name-list-style=amp|year=2010|title=East-west extension in the NW Indian Himalaya|journal=Geological Society of America Bulletin|volume=122|issue=9/10|pages=1499–1515|doi=10.1130/B26589.1|bibcode = 2010GSAB..122.1499H }}</ref> One of the most significant extensional structures in Himachal Pradesh is the Kaurik-Chango Fault Zone. This is interpreted to be seismically active from the presence of thermal springs and [[gypsum]] deposits<ref name="Singh_S">{{cite web|url=http://www.iitk.ac.in/nicee/wcee/article/6_vol1_184.pdf|title=Damage during Kinnaur Earthquake of January 19, 1975, in Himachal Pradesh, India|last=Singh|first=S.|author2=Jain A.K.|author3=Singh V.N.|author4=Srivastava L.S.|name-list-style=amp|pages=184–190|accessdate=1 December 2011}}</ref> and from studies of soft-sediment deformation structures thought to be [[seismite]]s. These seismites have been used to suggest eight earlier earthquakes of magnitude greater than 6 in the Sumdo area affecting these Late [[Pleistocene]] to [[Holocene]] sediments.<ref name="Mohindra"/> The estimated recurrence interval for earthquakes along this fault zone is about 10,000 years.<ref name="Singh">{{cite journal|last=Singh|first=S.|author2=Jain A.K.|year=2007|title=Liquefaction and fluidization of lacustrine deposits from Lahaul-Spiti and Ladakh Himalaya: Geological evidences of paleoseismicity along active fault zone|journal=[[Sedimentary Geology]]|volume=196|issue=1–4|pages=47–57|doi=10.1016/j.sedgeo.2006.06.005|bibcode = 2007SedG..196...47S }}</ref>

==Earthquake==
The earthquake rupture is estimated to be about {{convert|25|km}} in length and {{convert|575|sqkm}} in area, with a displacement of about {{convert|0.6|m}}. The mainshock was preceded by a major [[foreshock]].<ref name=khattir/> [[surface rupture|Ground rupture]] was observed in the form of a series of small vertical faults, with downthrow to the west, offsetting part of National Highway 22 between Sumdo and Kaurik, with displacements up to 50 cm.<ref name="Mohindra">{{cite journal|last=Mohindra|first=R.|author2=Bagati T.N.|year=1996|title=Seismically induced soft-sediment deformation structures (seismites) around Sumdo in the lower Spiti valley (Tethys Himalaya)|journal=Sedimentary Geology|volume=101|issue=1–2|pages=69–83|doi=10.1016/0037-0738(95)00022-4|bibcode = 1996SedG..101...69M }}</ref>

The [[isoseismal map|isoseismal lines]] for the earthquake are elongated in a north–south direction, parallel to the strike of the Kaurik-Chango Fault Zone. The [[focal mechanism]] of the earthquake indicates normal faulting along with a north–south-trending, west-dipping fault.<ref name=khattir/><ref name="Hintersberger"/>

==Damage==
The areas most strongly affected by the earthquake were the districts of Kinnaur and [[Lahaul and Spiti district|Lahaul-Spiti]]. The worst-affected villages were in the Parachu and Spiti river valleys. The village of Karauk showed the greatest degree of damage, with no building being unaffected. Buildings sited on slopes or at the base of slopes were not only affected by the shaking but by boulders falling from the hills above them.<ref name="Singh_S"/> The performance of the different types of residential buildings varied greatly. Houses made from mud, either directly or as sun-dried bricks showed damage over a wide area (up to {{convert|100|km}} from the epicentre) and those in the epicentral area were often severely damaged. Unreinforced masonry structures were also badly affected, particularly those made of "random rubble stone masonry" (RRSM) with mud mortar, some of them have collapsed completely. The best performing buildings were barrack type houses constructed from [[corrugated iron]] covering a timber frame, which generally showed little or no damage.<ref name="Singh_S"/>

The many monasteries and temples in the area were mostly badly damaged. They were often constructed with [[mudbrick]] or RRSM walls and had heavy roofs.<ref name="Singh_S"/> Strong vertical motion during the earthquake led to excessive loads on the upper part of the supporting walls causing them to bulge outwards.<ref name="Sikka"/>

There were many landslides, rockfalls and avalanches triggered by the earthquake.<ref name="Singh_S"/> One landslide dammed the Parachu river to a height of {{convert|60|m}}, forming a lake that caused flash flooding when it burst two months later.<ref name="Himachal SoE">{{cite web|url=http://www.hpenvis.nic.in/soe2006/chapter-04.pdf|title=Natural Disasters and Climate Change|author=Himachal SoE|year=2006|page=130|accessdate=2 December 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120227101428/http://www.hpenvis.nic.in/soe2006/chapter-04.pdf|archive-date=27 February 2012|url-status=dead}}</ref>

==Aftermath==
Damaged temples and monasteries were repaired or rebuilt immediately after the earthquake.<ref name=" Sikka">{{cite web|url=http://www.pub.getty.edu/conservation/publications_resources/pdf_publications/gsap_part3c.pdf|title=Research on the Upgrade of Traditional Seismic Retrofits for Ancient Buddhist Temples in the Region of Spiti and Kinnaur in the Western Himalayas|last=Sikka|first=S.|author2=Chaudhry C.|publisher=The Getty Conservation Institute|pages=109–119|accessdate=2 December 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120426012542/http://www.pub.getty.edu/conservation/publications_resources/pdf_publications/gsap_part3c.pdf|archive-date=26 April 2012|url-status=dead}}</ref> The [[Gandhola Monastery|Guru Ghantal monastery]] at Tupchiling, which was completely destroyed in the earthquake, was rebuilt using stone masonry and cement mortar. The roof, which was originally wooden, although it had already been replaced by slates by 1975, now consists of corrugated iron sheets.<ref name="Handa">{{cite book|last=Handa|first=O.C.|title=Buddhist Monasteries of Himachal|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rbeRDnz8h7oC|edition=2nd|year=2004|publisher=Indus Publishing|isbn=978-81-7387-170-2|pages=125–126}}</ref> The original design of these earthen buildings had already evolved to contain elements of earthquake resistance before the damage in 1975. The walls were reinforced using ring beams around the whole structure to prevent outward displacement during an earthquake. Further reinforcement was in some cases provided by buttresses of stone or brick at each corner of the building. Initial repairs after the earthquake by the local people involved additional corner buttresses, replacement wooden roofs and repair of the upper walls with stone masonry. Most of these repairs, however, have either caused further problems or may do so in the future.<ref name="Sikka"/>

==See also==
*[[List of earthquakes in 1975]]
*[[List of earthquakes in India]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
*{{EQ-isc-link|733389}}

{{Earthquakes in 1975}}
{{Earthquakes in India}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kinnaur earthquake, 1975}}
[[Category:1975 earthquakes]]
[[Category:1975 disasters in India]]
[[Category:Disasters in Himachal Pradesh]]
[[Category:Earthquakes in India]]
[[Category:1970s in Himachal Pradesh]]
[[Category:January 1975 in Asia]]

1975 Kinnaur earthquake - Revision history

imported>RosalieHowes26 at 01:19, 19 January 2026