Case Study - 2005 Kashmir Earthquake
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
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