IMPACT OF EARTHQUAKE IN UTTARAKHAND REGION

Abstract

Uttarakhand is a Himalayan state in India, in which around 60 percent, 36 percent, 23 percent, and 18 percent building of police station, hospital, school, and local administration respectively, falls in zones V and IV of India's Seismic Zone and have been designated as high earthquake risk zones. According to a study, 71.86 percent of the surveyed local administration buildings, 64.58 percent schools, 62.08 percent police stations, 56.25 percent fire and emergency service stations, and 52.86 percent hospitals, as well as 61.68 percent of other department buildings, were to be decommissioned immediately after the Uttarkashi earthquake in 1991 and the Chamoli earthquake in 1999. As the remaining facilities would be severely overcrowded, this would provide a variety of problems in terms of assembling resources for search, rescue, and emergency healthcare, as well as relief and restoration. The study identifies poor construction quality, a deficiency of maintenance, and non-compliance with safety requirements as the primary factors contributing to the examined building’s increased risk. This study examines the current construction typologies in Uttarakhand in order to identify the factors that contributed to the higher losses in the 1991 Uttarkashi earthquake, as well as to encourage innovative materials and construction techniques that are easy to implement, region specific, and resistant to seismic hazards, in order to reduce losses in Uttarakhand if another earthquake occurs in the future. The goal of this study is to attract policymakers and the public attention to both the safety and vulnerability of school infrastructure, so that sincere effort is made in utilising resources for planned and phased seismic risk reduction.