Kangra Earthquake of 1905

1905 Kangra earthquake was a major earthquake that occurred in the Kangra Valley and the Kangra region of Himachal Pradesh in India on 4 April 1905.

The earthquake measured 7.8 on the surface wave magnitude scale and killed more than 20,000 people. Apart from this most buildings in towns of Kangra, Mcleodganj and Dharamshala were destroyed.

The Kangra earthquake of 4 April 1905 in the north-west Himalaya was the first of several devastating 20th century earthquakes to occur in northern India. The Punjab Government estimated that more then 20,000 of its ≈ 375,000 epicentral population were killed, and that 100,000 buildings were destroyed by the earthquake. Farming was disrupted by the loss of 53,000 domestic animals and extensive damage to a network of hillside aqueducts that had been constructed over many generations. The economic costs of recovering from the earthquake was estimated at 2.9 million (1905) rupees.

This is the deadliest earthquake in modern Indian history. Close to 19,800 people were killed and thousands were injured in the Kangra area. Most buildings were destroyed at Kangra, Mcleodganj and Dharamshala. Damage also extended into the Dehradun area. Landslides and rockfalls occurred in the region. Damage was also reported from many large cities in the Punjab, like Amritsar, Lahore, Jullunder and Ludhiana. Felt over much of the northern sub-continent, as far east as Kolkata.