M6.8 earthquake 32 km E of Uttarkāshi, India

Saturday, October 19, 1991, 21:23:14 UTC · 30.780°N, 78.774°E

A magnitude 6.8 earthquake struck 32 km E of Uttarkāshi, India on Saturday, October 19, 1991, 21:23:14 UTC, at a depth of 10.3 km (shallow). It is the strongest earthquake within 300 km since an M6.8 on January 19, 1975.

Magnitude: 6.8; Strong · mwb
Depth: 10 km; Shallow
Felt reports: 0; Did You Feel It?
Est. shaking: VIII; Severe (ShakeMap)
PAGER alert: None; Not issued
Tsunami: No flag; USGS feed

Outlined circle: this earthquakeDashed circle: 100 km aftershock search areaColoured lines: estimated shaking intensity (USGS ShakeMap)

In context

How big was it, and why here?

Energy released

239 kilotons of TNT

That is about 16 times the Hiroshima bomb. It released about 501 times the energy of a magnitude 5.0.

Tectonic setting

90 km

from the nearest mapped plate boundary, between the Eurasian and Indian plates. Earthquakes cluster along boundaries like this one, where plates collide, pull apart or slide past each other.

Depth: shallow

10 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 100 km

USGS lists 7 M2.5+ earthquakes within 100 km in the following 30 days; the largest was M4.9 on October 20, 1991. Most nearby activity right after a large earthquake is aftershocks, which usually become less frequent over days and weeks.

Time after the mainshock on a logarithmic scale (first hours stretched), magnitude on the vertical axis. M2.5+ events from USGS.

Regional history

Past M5+ earthquakes within 300 km

USGS lists 83 M5.0+ earthquakes within 300 km before this one (catalog from 1900; older records are less complete). The strongest:

History · NOAA

Deadliest earthquakes in this area

NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 11 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700, which together caused about 21,348 recorded deaths. The most severe:

1905M7.9
Kangra
4 Apr 1905 · 268 km away · intensity X
19,000 deaths$25 million damagetsunami
1991M7.0
Chamoli, Uttarkashi, New Delhi, Chandigarh
19 Oct 1991 · 0 km away · intensity VIII
2,000 deaths$60 million damage
1980M6.5
Pithoragarh
29 Jul 1980 · 259 km away
200 deaths$245 million damage
1966M6.3
Nepal-India
27 Jun 1966 · 242 km away · intensity VIII
80 deaths$1 million damage
1975M6.8
Kashmir: Kinnaur District
19 Jan 1975 · 190 km away
47 deathsModerate damage ($1–5M)
1966M5.6
N
15 Aug 1966 · 232 km away
15 deathsLimited damage (under $1M)

NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.

Nearby trackers