Indian Gujarat Earthquake, 26 January 2001

The Earthquake The Impact Local Response to the Crisis International Response Australia's Response Ongoing Development The Earthquake On 26 January 2001 an earthquake registering 7.9 on the Richter scale devastated the Indian state of Gujarat. It was the second largest recorded earthquake in India, the largest being in 1737, and was the worst natural disaster in India in more than 50 years. The earthquake struck at approximately 8.46am local time, so people were up and about and less likely to be trapped in their homes than if it had been earlier. The epicentre was located 80 kilometres north-east of the city of Bhuj (see Figure 1) and the shock waves or tremors lasted about two minutes, followed by aftershocks for more than a month. Map showing the Gujarat earthquake epicentre The Impact The scale of the impact of the earthquake is almost impossible to comprehend. The shock or seismic waves spread out in a 700 kilometre circumference from the epicentre, and within this area the devastation was immense. There were more than 20,000 deaths and 167,000 people injured. Four districts of Gujarat lay in ruin and altogether, 21 districts were affected. Photo 1: Devastation in Bhuj, near the epicentre Around 300,000 families and at least 3 million children aged 14 and under were affected. Around 600,000 people were left homeless. In the city of Bhuj, more than 3,000 inhabitants of the city lost their lives, the main hospital was crushed and close to 90% of the buildings were destroyed. Nothing was left of the town of Bhachau. The town resembled a quarry. Photo 2: The remains of Bhachau One villager who had been on his way to work when the earthquake struck described how he watched the ground come rippling towards him, followed by a terrifying noise. An aid worker described the scene as chaos with people crying, desperately searching for relatives and friends, families everywhere sleeping in the streets and the night's darkness lit by huge funeral pyres burning the thousands of dead. There were many challenges as temperatures dropped to near freezing. There was significant damage to infrastructure with facilities such as hospitals, schools, electric power and water systems, bridges and roads damaged or destroyed. Many of medically trained personnel died. The extent of the damage can be seen in Table 1. Table 1 - Damage to Utilities and Transport Systems Resource Details Railways Damage to track between Viramgam to Gandhidam; Gandhidham to Bhuj; Viramgam to Okha; and Palanpur to Gandhidam. Heavy damage to various station buildings, station cabins, bridges, residential quarters and signalling systems Roads 650 kilometres of national highways damaged, 100 kilometres severely. Many minor and major bridges damaged Ports Berths 1-5 at Kandla Port suffered major structural damage Telecommunications 147 exchanges, 82,000 lines and optical fibre systems damaged Power 45 sub-stations and power supply to 50% of feeders in Kutch damaged. Power supply to nine towns and 925 villages affected. Water Water supply to 18 towns and 1340 villages damaged or destroyed. Fuel Jamnager refinery shutdown by power failure. Crude oil and product pipelines were shut down for checking. Availability of product not affected as alternative arrangements were made. Schools Of the 1359 primary schools with 5168 schoolrooms, 992 schools and 4179 classrooms were destroyed. There were 38 secondary schools of which six were destroyed, 14 suffered heavy damage and 12 were partially damaged. Of 128 non-government schools, nine were destroyed, 11 suffered heavy damage and 99 were partially damaged. Source: ReliefWeb, OCHA http://www.reliefweb.int Local Response to the Crisis The response within India was immediate. The national and state governments quickly provided assistance in many forms including cash, medical supplies, communications teams, shelters, food, clothing, transport and relief workers. More than 185 non-government organisations (NGOs), with their trained personnel and volunteers, sprang into action. Photo 3: Temporary shelter at Lodai, 30 kilometres north-east of Bhuj The International Response Search and Rescue teams soon arrived from Switzerland, United Kingdom, Russia and Turkey to find and rescue survivors buried under debris. Relief teams and supplies soon followed from 38 countries as well as United Nations agencies and many international NGOs such as the Red Cross. Photo 4: Red Cross volunteers handing out supplies of food and household equipment at Chotadinara Australia's Response The Australian Government committed A$2.5 million to relief organisations working in Gujarat. The United Nations organisation, UNICEF received A$1 million while the Australian Red Cross, Tear Australia and Community Aid Abroad/Oxfam each received A$500,000 which helped these organisations to: Provide trauma counsellors for the distressed in rural and urban areas Provide and distribute emergency food, water and medical supplies Set-up aid distribution points for more effective aid distribution Conduct widespread vaccinations for diseases like measles Help thousands of children return to school Prevent disease through emergency sanitation measures Build a 350 bed emergency tent hospital in Bhuj Provide blankets, tarpaulins and food to dozens of remote villages The Australian public donated generously to these and other NGOs working to assist in the rebuilding effort. Photo 5: Social worker at Dhamadaka, 24 kilometres west of Bhachau, helps women talk about the trauma of their loss Ongoing Development Three years after the devastation much has been rebuilt but there was still much for the affected people, local in national governments, international organisations and local and international NGOs to rebuild. The area has suffered drought, cyclones and communal violence to add to the difficulty of recovery. Where previously houses may have been hurriedly built to meet shelter needs without recognising local needs, in Gujarat, people are being more involved with the design and building of their new homes which are better able to stand earthquakes and cyclones. The windows are strengthened with steel frames and are lower to provide better ventilation. Remote villagers are being assisted to rebuild their traditional methods of water collection, surface pools and shallow wells, which had fallen into disrepair, as they depended on water trucked in by the government. Increased water availability together with health education is improving food security, health and prosperity of the area.