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1993 Latur Earthquake

Date	September 30, 1993 (1993-09-30)
Magnitude	6.4 Mw
Depth	12 kilometers[1]
Countries or regions affected	India
Casualties	Approximately 7,928 dead, 30,000 injured

A collapsed stairway lays on top of a roof demolished by the earthquake.

The Latur earthquake struck India at 03:56 local time (UTC + 04:30) on September 30, 1993. The main area affected was the Maharashtra State in Western India. The earthquake primarily affected the districts of Latur and Osmanabad. It was an intraplate earthquake. It measured 6.4 on the Richter Scale,^[2] and approximately 7,928 people died,^[2] whilst another 30,000 were injured. The earthquake's focus was around 12 km deep - relatively shallow causing shock waves to cause more damage.

Because India does not lie on a plate boundary there was some debate as to what caused the earthquake. One suggestion is the existence of fault webs. The Indian sub-continent crumples as it pushes against Asia and pressure is released. It is possible that this pressure is released along fault lines. Another argument is that reservoir construction along the River Terna was responsible for increasing pressure on fault lines.

According to USGS (U.S. Geological Survey) at http://earthquake.usgs.gov/learning/today/his_09_29.php, the quake occurred on the 29th (UTC) with 6.2 on the Richter Scale, at least 9,748 people killed and about 30,000 injured. For the exact time (and hence the apparent date ambiguity) see ref. [1].

References

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