Jabalpur Earthquake 22 May, 1997: A Geoscientific Study

An Earthquake of M 6.0 on Richter scale rocked Jabalpur and surrounding areas in the early morning hours on 22 May, 1997. Its after effects were death of 38 people and injuries to 397. It left many people homeless and loss to the property amounting to more than five hundred crores. The Earthquake had destroyed an area of about 44 sq. km. within the isoseismal VIII. Damage of some grade or the other was noticed over an area of 2350 sq. km. falling within isoseismal VII. In the recent history of the Earthquakes in India, this was the first time that a big city like Jabalpur having a population of over 12 Lakhs was a centre of devastation and thus loss to property was very high. The tremors of this Earthquake were felt over a wider area of 1 Lakh sq. km. (isoseismal V) covering 18 districts of Madhya Pradesh and adjoining area in the states of Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh. The present publication presents synthesized data on macroseismic survey and damage patterns observed in maizoseismal area microseismic surveys, aftershocks studies, attenuation characteristics and focal mechanism solution for the Earthquake alongwith geological, geotechnical and seismotectonic inputs.