Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Study of 28th April, 2021 Mw 6.0 Assam earthquake in a part of eastern Himalayan foreland region, northeast India

  • Original Article
  • Published:
Environmental Earth Sciences Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

The northeastern part of India is seismically very active due to the ongoing Indian Plate under-thrusting and rise of several mountain ranges. As a result, the Himalayas, Naga Hills, Shillong-Karbi Massifs, and the Assam Valley have many crustal-scale active faults. These faults often cause moderate to large earthquakes while releasing the accumulated stress associated with Plate tectonics. In this study, one such major earthquake event of Mw 6.0 occurred near the Kopili Fault and Himalayan Frontal Thrust in the eastern Himalayan foreland region on 28th April 2021. The event has been investigated to understand its seismotectonic and environmental impacts. The quake caused much damage in the epicentral area around Dhekiyajuli of Sonitpur District, Assam, India. The densely populated Guwahati and Tezpur cities of Assam have suffered damage as some parts of buildings and roads were collapsed. Moreover, a landslide near Bhairabkunda and several liquefaction incidents near Tezpur and Dhekiyajuli localities were also recorded, within 30–50 km from the epicentre. It is found from NASA's GRACE-Land data that the increase in groundwater volume on the northern bank of the Brahmaputra than the previous year might be related to higher rainfall in the recharge zone around the Himalayan Frontal parts. Such groundwater conditions caused saturation of the subsurface soil and alluvium, which resulted in the formation of liquefaction during high shaking. These incidents also caused severe environmental damage. After the earthquake, the sprouting of mud water affected rice fields and nearby freshwater sources like ponds and lakes. This earthquake, along with the historical ones, reveals the vulnerability of the entire region to many natural hazards. This study provides a scope to understand the seismotectonic and environmental exposure of the eastern Himalayan foothill region.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5

Similar content being viewed by others

Availability of data and materials

Added as supplementary materials.

Code availability

Not applicable.

References

  • Angelier J, Baruah S (2009) Seismotectonics of northeast India: a stress analysis if focal mechanism solutions of earthquakes and its kinematic implications. Geophys J Int. 178(1):303–326

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Arouq MK, Esmaeilpour M, Sarvar H (2020) Vulnerability assessment of cities to earthquake based on the catastrophe theory: a case study of Tabriz city. Iran Environ Earth Sci 79:354. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12665-020-09103-2

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Barman P, Ray JD, Kumar A, Chowdhury JD, Mahanta K (2016) Estimation of present-day inter-seismic deformation in Kopili fault zone of north-east India using GPS measurements. Geomat Nat Haz Risk 7(2):586–599. https://doi.org/10.1080/19475705.2014.983187

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bharali B, Rakshit R, Dinpuia L, Saikia S, Baruah S (2021) The 2020 Mw 5.5 Mizoram earthquake and associated swarm activity in the junction of the Surma Basin and Indo-Myanmar subduction region. Nat Hazards. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11069-021-04924-1

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bhattacharya PM, Mukhopadhyay S, Majumdar RK, Kayal JR (2008) 3-D seismic structure of the Northeast India region and its implications for local and regional tectonics. Jour Asian Earth Sci 33:25–41

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Borah K, Bora DK, Goyal A, Kumar R (2016) Crustal structure beneath northeast India inferred from receiver function modeling. Phys Earth Planet Inter 258:15–27

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Baruah S, BoruahGK, Sharma S, Hoque WA, Chetia T, Dey C, Gogoi D, Das PK, Baruah S, Basumatari D, Pathak J, Barua AG, Choudhury S (2020) Seismic vulnerability assessment of earthquake-prone mega-city Shillong India using geophysical mapping and remote sensing. Georisk Assess Manage Risk Eng Syst Geohazards 14(2):112–127. https://doi.org/10.1080/17499518.2019.1598560

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chen J (2011) Variability of impact of earthquake on debris-flow triggering conditions: case study of Chen-Yu-Lan watershed. Taiwan Environ Earth Sci 64:1787–1794. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12665-011-0981-4

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chen X, Cui P, You Y, Liu J (2012) Post-earthquake changes and prediction of debris flow scales in Subao River Valley, Beichuan County, Sichuan Province, China. Environ Earth Sci 65:995–1003. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12665-011-0949-4

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cheng JD, Huang YC, Wu HL, Yeh JL, Chang CH (2005) Hydrometeorological, landuse attributes of debris flows, debris floods during Typhoon Toraji. July 29–30, 2001 Central Taiwan. J Hydro 306:161–173

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Coudurier-Curveura A, Tapponnier P, Okal E et al (2020) A composite rupture model for the great 1950 Assam earthquake across the cusp of the East Himalayan Syntaxis. Earth Planet Sci Letts 531:115928

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dey S, Sarkar P, Debbarma C (2009) Morphological signatures of fault lines in an earthquake prone zone of southern Baromura hill, north-east India: a multi sources approach for spatial data analysis. Environ Earth Sci 59:353–361. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12665-009-0033-5

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ding M, Miao C (2015) Comparative analysis of the distribution characteristics of geological hazards in the Lushan and Wenchuan earthquake-prone areas. Environ Earth Sci 74:5359–5371. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12665-015-4549-6

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Duarah BP, Phukan S (2011) Understanding the tectonic behaviour of the Shillong Plateau India using remote sensing data. J Geologic Soc India 77(2):105–112. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12594-011-0013-8

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dziewonski AM, Chou TA, Woodhouse JH (1981) Determination of earthquake source parameters from waveform data for studies of global and regional seismicity. J Geophys Res 86:2825–2852. https://doi.org/10.1029/JB086iB04p02825

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ekström G, Nettles M, Dziewonski AM (2012) The global CMT project 2004–2010: Centroid-moment tensors for 13,017 earthquakes. Phys Earth Planet Inter 200–201:1–9. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pepi.2012.04.002

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gee EP (1953) The Assam earthquake of 1950, in compilation of papers on the Assam Earthquake. In: MB Ramachandra Rao (Ed), vol 1, Central Board of Geophysics, Calcutta, p 101–107

  • Huang Y, Yu M, Xu Q, Sawada K et al (2014) InSAR-derived digital elevation models for terrain change analysis of earthquake-triggered flow-like landslides based on ALOS/PALSAR imagery. Environ Earth Sci 73:7661–7668. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12665-014-3939-5

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hwa Oh Y, Kim G (2015) A radon-thoron isotope pair as a reliable earthquake precursor. Sci Rep 5(1):13084. https://doi.org/10.1038/srep13084

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jadoon IAK, Hinderer M, Kausar AB, Qureshi AA, Baig MS, Basharat M, Frisch W (2014) Structural interpretation and geo-hazard assessment of a locking line: 2005 Kashmir earthquake, western Himalayas. Environ Earth Sci. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12665-014-3929-7

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jayangondaperumal R (2021) Geological evidence of great earthquakes along the Eastern Himalayan Foothills. Jour Geol Soc India 97:823–826

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jayangondaperumal R, Wesnousky SG, Choudhuri BK (2011) Near-Surface Expression of Early to Late Holocene Displacement along the Northeastern Himalayan Frontal Thrust at Marbang Korong Creek, Arunachal Pradesh. India Seismol Soc Am 101(6):3060–3064. https://doi.org/10.1785/0120110051

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jayangondaperumal R, Thakur VC, Vivek J, Rao PS, Gupta AK (2018) Active tectonics of Kumaun and Garhwal Himalaya, Springer Nat Haz 150 p. (ISBN 978–981–10–8242–9)

  • Kanth RSTG, Dash SK (2010) Evaluation of seismic soil-liquefaction at Guwahati city. Environ Earth Sci 61:355–368. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12665-009-0347-3

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kayal JR (2008) Microearthquake Seismology and Seismotectonics of South Asia, (Heidelberg, Germany). Springer, Germany, p 503

    Google Scholar 

  • Kayal JR, Arefiev SS, Baruah S, Hazarika D, Gogoi N et al (2006) Shillong plateau earthquake in northeast India region: complex tectonic model. Curr Sci 91(1):109–114

    Google Scholar 

  • Kayal JR, Arefiev SS, Baruah S, Tatevossian R, Gogoi N, Sanoujam M et al (2010) The 2009 Bhutan and Assam felt earthquakes (Mw 6.3 and 5.1) at the Kopili fault in the northeast Himalaya region. Geomat Nat Haz Risk 1(3):273–281

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kayal JR, Arefiev SS, Baruah S, Hazarika D, Gogoi N et al (2012) Large and great earthquakes in the Shillong plateau-Assam valley area of Northeast India region: pop-up and transverse tectonics. Tectonophy 532–535:186–192

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kumar D, Reddy DV, Pandey AK (2016) Paleoseismic investigations in the Kopili Fault Zone of North East India: evidences from liquefaction chronology. Tectonophys 674:65–75

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Landerer FW, Swenson SC (2012) Accuracy of scaled GRACE terrestrial water storage estimates. Water Res Resch 48:11. https://doi.org/10.1029/2011WR011453

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Liu L, Xu C, Xu X, Tian Y, Ran Y, Chen J (2014) Interactive statistical analysis of predisposing factors for earthquake-triggered landslides: a case study of the 2013 Lushan, China Ms7.0 earthquake. Environ Earth Sci 73:4729–4738. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12665-014-3758-8

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mathur LP (1953) The Assam earthquake of 15th August, 1950: a short note on factual observations. “A compilation of papers on the Assam earthquake of August 15, 1950”compiled by M. B. Ramachandra Rao, 56–60.

  • Nandy DR (1986) Tectonics, seismicity and gravity of Northeastern India and adjoining region: Geol. Surv India Mem 119:13–17

    Google Scholar 

  • Nandy DR (2001) Geodynamics of Northeastern India and the adjoining region. ACB Publication, Kolkata, p 209

    Google Scholar 

  • Nandy DR, Dasgupta S (1991) Seismotectonic domain of northeastern India and adjacent areas. Phys Chem Earth 18:371–384

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nandy DR, Dasgupta S, Sarkar K, Ganguly A (1983) Tectonic evolution of Tripura-Mizoram Fold Belt, Surma Basin, northeast India. Quart Jour Geol Min Metall Soc Ind 55(4):186–194

    Google Scholar 

  • Pandey A, Jayangondaperumal R, Hetényi G, Priyanka RS, Singh I, Srivastava P, Srivastava HB (2021) Establishing primary surface rupture evidence and magnitude of the 1697 CE Sadiya earthquake at the Eastern Himalayan Frontal thrust. India Sci Report 11:879. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-79571-w

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Poddar MC (1950) The Assam earthquake of 15th August 1950. Indian Miner 4:167–176

    Google Scholar 

  • Poddar MC (1952) Preliminary report of the Assam earthquake of 15th August, 1950. Jour Geol Soc India 2:11–13

    Google Scholar 

  • Priyanka RS, Jayangondaperumal R, Pandey A, Mishra RL, Singh I, Bhushan R, Srivastava P et al (2017) Primary surface rupture of the 1950 Tibet-Assam great earthquake along the eastern Himalayan front. India Sci Report 7:5433. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-017-05644-y

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rakshit R, Bezbaruah D, Zaman F, Bharali B (2020) Variability of orographic architecture of Indo-Burmese Ranges NE India, constraint from morphotectonic and lineament analysis. Geol Quart 64(1):130–140. https://doi.org/10.7306/gq.1522

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Reddy DV, Nagabhushanam P, Kumar D, Sukhija BS, Thomas PJ, Pandey AK, Sahoo RN, Ravi Prasad GV, Datta K (2009) The great 1950 Assam earthquake revisited: field evidences of liquefaction and search for paleoseismic events. Tectonophysics 474(3–4):463–472

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rodriguez R, Lira J (2015) Subsidence and liquefaction analysis in Mexicali, Mexico, during the Cucapa earthquake (April 4, 2010) using Envisat/Asar and spot images. Environ Earth Sci 74:683–691. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12665-015-4073-8

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sharma S, Sarma JN, Baruah S (2018) Dynamics of Mikir Hills Plateau and its vicinity: inferences on Kopili and Bomdila faults in Northeastern India through seismotectonics. Gravity and Magnetic Anomalies. Ann Geophy 61(3):SE338. https://doi.org/10.4402/ag-7516

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Singh AK, Chung SL, Bikramaditya RK, Lee HY (2017) New U-Pb zir con ages of plagiogranites from the Nagaland-Manipur Ophiolites, Indo-Myanmar Orogenic Belt, NE India. Jour Geol Soc 174:170–179

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Singh I, Pandey A, Mishra RL, Priyanka RS, Brice A, Jayangondaperumal R, Srivastava V (2021) Evidence of the 1950 Great Assam earthquake surface break along the Mishmi Thrust at Namche Barwa Himalayan Syntaxis. Geophys Res Lett. https://doi.org/10.1029/2020GL090893

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sonker MK, Devi R, Singh M, Chand R (2020) Study on co-seismic energy losses from hypocenter to ocean bottom for Sumatra earthquake 2004 using 3-D crustal deformation model. Environ Earth Sci 79:475. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12665-020-09230-w

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sukhija BS, Rao MN, Reddy DV, Nagabhushanam P, Hussain S, Chadha RK, Gupta HK (1999) Paleoliquefaction evidence and periodicity of large prehistoric earthquakes in Shillong Plateau India. Earth Planet Sci Lett 167(3–4):269–282. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0012-821X(99)00015-1

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sutar AK, Verma M, Pandey AP, Bansal BK (2017) Assessment of maximum earthquake potential of the Kopili fault zone in northeast India and strong ground motion simulation. Jour Asian Earth Sci 147:439–451

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Swenson SC (2012) GRACE monthly land water mass grids NETCDF RELEASE 5.0. Ver. 5.0. PO.DAAC, CA, USA. Dataset accessed [2021-05-02] at https://doi.org/10.5067/TELND-NC005

  • Swenson SC, Wahr J (2006) Post-processing removal of correlated errors in GRACE data. Geophys Res Lett 33:L08402. https://doi.org/10.1029/2005GL025285

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Terzaghi K, Peck RB, Mesri G (1996) Soil mechanics in engineering practice, 3rd edn. John Wiley & Sons, New York, p 549p

    Google Scholar 

  • Vartanyan G, Stazhilo-Alekseev S, Zaltsberg E (2013) Hydrogeodeformation monitoring: prospects of earthquake prediction. Environ Earth Sci 71:3039–3047. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12665-013-2681-8

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Vernant P, Bilham R, Szeliga W, Drupka D, Kalita S et al (2014) Clockwise rotation of the Brahmaputra Valley relative to India: tectonic convergence in the eastern Himalaya, Naga Hills, and Shillong Platea. J Geophys Res Solid Earth 119:6558–6571. https://doi.org/10.1002/2014JB011196

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

The authors' are grateful to Dr. Gunter Dörhöfer and Dr. Yan Zheng, editor-in-chiefs and two anonymous reviewers for their valuable suggestions. We also thank Dr. Peter Dietrich (EM-ESS). Technical services from NASA’s GRACE, SRTM, ASTER-DEM, USGS, NCS (India) and Google Earth are also appreciated. The authors also acknowledge the media and local people for their support.

Funding

No grant or funding has been received for this study.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Centre for the Environment, Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati, Guwahati, Assam, 781039, India

    Kaustubh Rakshit

  2. Department of Applied Geology, Dibrugarh University, Dibrugarh, Assam, 786004, India

    Raghupratim Rakshit

  3. Department of Geophysics, Pachhunga University College, Aizawl, Mizoram, 796001, India

    Raghupratim Rakshit

Authors
  1. Kaustubh Rakshit
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Raghupratim Rakshit
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Contributions

KR and RR equally carried out the research work and prepare the manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Raghupratim Rakshit.

Ethics declarations

Conflict of interest

Authors declare no conflicts of interest.

Ethics approval

Not applicable.

Humans and animal right statement

Additional declarations for articles in life science journals that report the results of studies involving humans and/or animals: Not applicable.

Consent to participate

All consent has been taken.

Consent for publication

Consent for publication is provided.

Additional information

Publisher's Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Supplementary Information

Below is the link to the electronic supplementary material.

Supplementary file1 (DOCX 4589 kb)

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Rakshit, K., Rakshit, R. Study of 28th April, 2021 Mw 6.0 Assam earthquake in a part of eastern Himalayan foreland region, northeast India. Environ Earth Sci 81, 368 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12665-022-10496-5

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12665-022-10496-5

Keywords

Search

Navigation