Published by the American Geological Institute Newsmagazine of
the Earth Sciences Monday, Jan. 29: A preliminary magnitude-7.9
earthquake struck India at 8:46 a.m. on Jan. 26. The death toll,
originally estimated at 1,100, reached 20,000 by Monday morning.
Most of the casualties were reported from the state of Gujarat
in western India, mainly in the cities of Bhuj and Ahmedabad.
The depth of the earthquake was 23.6 kilometers and felt as far
as Pakistan and Nepal. This is the fifth earthquake in January
to reach a magnitude of 7.0 or higher. Geotimes is working to
provide readers with up-to-the-minute reports from other news
services. The links below provide information on news stories
about the event in addition to information about the science
behind the the geologic disaster. [Image at right taken from A
Probabilistic Seismic Hazard Map of India and Adjoining Regions
by S.C. Bhatia, M. Ravi Kumar and H K Gupta of the National
Geophysical Research Institute, Hyderabad, India.] Incorporated
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