Short note on Sikkim earthquake 2011

EARTHQUAKE IS A COMMON HAZARD IN MOSTLY HILLY AREAS AND IT BECOME DISASTER WHEN IT IMPACTS ON HUMAN. SIKKIM IS ONE OF THE MOST VULNERABLE PLACES FOR EARTHQUAKES OCCURRING IN INDIA.

1. A BRIEF NOTE ON SIKKIM EARTHQUAKE, 2011 NAME: CHAITALI PAL. PG 4TH SEM ROLL- 06

2. What is an earthquake? An earthquake is what happens when two blocks of the earth suddenly slip past one another (mainly for plate movement). The surface where they slip is called the fault or fault plane . The location below the earth’s surface where the earthquake starts is called the hypocenter , and the location directly above it on the surface of the earth is called the epicenter . INTRODUCTION SOME FACTS ABOUT SIKKIM EARTHQUAKE The Sikkim earthquake occurred with a moment at 18:10 IST on Sunday, 18 September, 2011. Duration - 30- 40 seconds. Magnitude - 6.9 It occured from a boundary of a tectonic plate ( Intraplate earthquake ). Epicenter - Taplejung District, Nepal.

3. LOCATION OF THE AREA

4. The 2011 Sikkim earthquake occurred centered within the Kanchenjunga Conservation Area, near the border of Nepal and the Indian state of Sikkim. As per the Seismic Zonation Map of India, the state of Sikkim comes under Seismic Zone IV . Neighbouring countries of Nepal, Bhutan, Tibet (China) and Bangladesh sustained damage and losses to varying extent . Three aftershocks of magnitude 5.7, 5.1 and 4.6 were also felt in Sikkim within 30 minutes of the earthquake. The earthquake triggered a large number of landslides and caused significant damage to buildings and infrastructure. DETAILS ABOUT THE INCIDENT

5. The earthquakes in this region are usually interplate in nature, preliminary data suggests the Sikkim earthquake was triggered by shallow strike-slip faulting from an intraplate source within the over-riding Eurasian Plate. CAUSES As the region is mountainous and rains preceded the earthquake, the event triggered massive landslides. Damage to buildings and infrastructure caused by landslides was more severe than damage due to direct ground shaking in some regions. Most buildings had a symmetric and uniform grid of beams and columns. Some buildings that had open stories collapsed, usually at mid-height. The strong shaking caused significant building collapse and mudslides IMPACTS

6. "Pager - M 6.9 - Sikkim, India". USGS. 18 September 2011. Retrieved18 September 2011. Earthquake claims two lives in Sikkim, The Hindu, 18 September 2011 Bhardwaj, Mayank (18 September 2011). "Magnitude 6.8 quake in India, several dead". Reuters. Retrieved 18 September 2011. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2011_Sikkim_earthquake South Sikkim earthquake report REFERENCE