Himalayas

Kashmir, Northern India

General info:

• severe earthquake

• killed over 79,000 people

• a high magnitude (MMS 7.6) earthquake

• had a ground-shaking intensity of VII (severe)

• the speed of onset was very rapid, so there was a limited chance of evacuating to a safe area

• damage was centred on Muzaffarabad but spread over a large area of more than 1000 km2

• ground shaking lasted 30–45 seconds (a short duration), but landslides triggered by the earthquake continued for some time

• aftershocks up to magnitude MMS 6.4

• earthquakes don't hit Kashmir often → the previous major earthquake in Kashmir was in 1905, so there wasn’t anyone to remember the risks and impacts of earthquakes in the region

• spatial predictability was low → Kashmir is in a ‘seismic gap’, i.e. an area of known risk that had not experienced an earthquake for a long time