Gujarat earthquake (2001) areas affected bhuj ahmedabad gandhinagar kutch surat surendranagar district rajkot district Jamnagar and jodia
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Answer:
The 2001 Gujarat earthquake, also known as the Bhuj earthquake, occurred on 26 January, India's 52nd Republic Day, at 08:46 am IST. The epicentre was about 9 km south-southwest of the village of Chobari in Bhachau Taluka of Kutch District of Gujarat, India.[5][6]
2001 Gujarat earthquake
2001 Gujarat earthquake is located in India2001 Gujarat earthquake
UTC time
2001-01-26 03:16:40
ISC event
1763683
USGS-ANSS
ComCat
Local date
26 January 2001
Local time
08:46 am IST
Duration
22 seconds
Magnitude
7.7 Mw[1]
Depth
16 kilometres (10 mi)
Epicenter
23.419°N 70.232°E[2]
Type
Oblique-slip
Areas affected
India, Pakistan
Max. intensity
X (Extreme)
Casualties
13,805–20,023 dead[3][4]
~ 166,800 injured[4]
The intraplate earthquake reached 7.7 on the moment magnitude scale and had a maximum felt intensity of X (Extreme) on the Mercalli intensity scale. The earthquake killed between 13,805 and 20,023 people (including 18 in southeastern Pakistan), injured another 167,000 and destroyed nearly 340,000 buildings.[7][8]
Explanation:
Kutch is a remote region in the arid borderlands of north-west India. For centuries life was brutally tough - rains often failed, there were few jobs and the enterprising would emigrate.
Then in January 2001 a magnitude seven earthquake struck, devastating a huge area, flattening cities including the district capital, Bhuj, and wrecking over 8,000 villages. Twenty thousand people were killed and more than a million others made homeless.
Those who witnessed the devastation at the time must have thought this would set back development by decades.
There was an outpouring of sympathy from around the world, much of it from Gujaratis living abroad. Some $130m (£80m) of aid poured in.
The Indian government was spurred into focusing on this much-ignored region in a way it had never done before.
The army was sent in to help with the emergency and $2bn of reconstruction money was allocated to the region.
Contrary to what many feared, aid and government grants were put to good use. In the first two years after the quake, nearly all the damaged villages were rebuilt.
Mithapashvaria, near Bhuj, is a small village that was completely destroyed. It was re-built with donations from the UK.
Families showed us the ruins of their old dark two-room house, and then took us to the new village.
Houses there were light and airy, with four rooms, running water and a toilet.
The village also had a medical centre, a temple and communal areas it hadn't enjoyed before.
Navin Prasad, of Sewa International, a non-governmental organisation, said that in village after village the reconstruction had produced a leap forward in development.
"We have taken people out of the Middle Ages and into the modern world," he said.
This progress was repeated all over Kutch, and it is most noticeable in Bhuj.
After the earthquake it was a sea of rubble.
Radical plans
Shocked and traumatised, residents fled, with many living in temporary accommodation for months.
It took several years to implement plans for a completely new city.
Houses had to be destroyed to make way for wider roads.
Ten years on Bhuj has been reborn.
It has two new ring-roads, an airport, parks and thriving shops.
Pradeep Sharma was the government official widely credited at the time with pushing through the radical plans.
"What you see is a new Bhuj," he says. "We have widened the roads, laid down water supply systems and underground drainage systems."
The success of the reconstruction effort could never have been sustained without economic recovery.
This was triggered by the Indian government creating new tax-free zones, which sparked a boom in private investment.
It is thought $10bn has come into the region, with £7bn more to come.
Business boom
Some 300 companies have established their businesses in Kutch and many more are queuing up to follow suit.
Mundra is a microcosm of the scale of development.
It was a small fishing port in the middle of a salt marsh before the earthquake.
Now it's an industrial hub, handling hundreds of tonnes of goods every day.