Reviewed by USGSIndia Earthquake123y ago
M7.9 earthquake in The 1905 Kangra, India Earthquake
Tuesday, April 4, 1905, 00:49:59 UTC · 32.597°N, 76.916°E
A magnitude 7.9 earthquake struck in The 1905 Kangra, India Earthquake on Tuesday, April 4, 1905, 00:49:59 UTC, at a depth of 20.0 km (shallow). No earthquake of this size or larger appears within 300 km in the USGS catalog since 1900.
- Magnitude
- 7.9
- Major · mw
- Depth
- 20 km
- Shallow
- Felt reports
- 0
- Did You Feel It?
- Est. shaking
- VII
- Very strong (ShakeMap)
- PAGER alert
- None
- Not issued
- Tsunami
- No flag
- USGS feed
Outlined circle: this earthquakeColoured lines: estimated shaking intensity (USGS ShakeMap)
In context
How big was it, and why here?
Energy released
11 megatons of TNT
That is about 709 times the Hiroshima bomb. It released about 22,387 times the energy of a magnitude 5.0.
Tectonic setting
125 km
from the nearest mapped plate boundary, between the Eurasian and Indian plates. Earthquakes this far from a boundary happen on faults inside a plate, often less frequently but sometimes strongly.
Depth: shallow
20 km
Shallow earthquakes (under 70 km) produce the strongest surface shaking for their size, so they are the ones most likely to cause damage near the epicenter.
Did You Feel It?
Where it was felt
No “Did You Feel It?” reports have been published for this event yet. If you felt it, you can add your report on the USGS website.
I felt it — report to USGS ↗USGS PAGER estimate
Who was exposed to shaking
USGS publishes PAGER impact estimates for significant earthquakes, usually within an hour. No PAGER estimate is available for this event.
After the main event
Aftershocks within 200 km
USGS has not published any M2.5+ earthquake within 200 km in the 30 days after this event.
Regional history
Past M5+ earthquakes within 300 km
USGS lists no earlier M5.0+ earthquakes within 300 km.
History · NOAA
Deadliest earthquakes in this area
NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 7 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700, which together caused about 24,000 recorded deaths. The most severe:
- 1905M7.9
Kangra
4 Apr 1905 · 0 km away · intensity X
19,000 deaths$25 million damagetsunami
- 1885M6.3
Kashmir: Srinagar
30 May 1885 · 296 km away
3,000 deathsExtreme damage ($25M+)
- 1828
Kashmir
26 Jun 1828 · 286 km away · intensity VIII
1,000 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)
- 1827
Lahore, Punjab
26 Sep 1827 · 270 km away
1,000 deathsModerate damage ($1–5M)
- 1803M7.5
Uttarakhand, Mathura (Muttra)
1 Sep 1803 · 265 km away
Severe damage ($5–24M)
- 1885
Kashmir
6 Jun 1885 · 178 km away
Severe damage ($5–24M)
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.