Earthquakes

Question 1

When was the Assam Earthquake?

Answer 1

12th June 1897

Question 2

What was the magnitude of the Assam Earthquake?

Answer 2

8.8 on Richter Scale

Question 3

What was the death toll in the Assam Earthquake?

Answer 3

Over 1,500

Question 4

What were the immediate effects of Assam Earthquake?

Answer 4

1. Buildings destroyed
2. Communications stopped
3. Destruction of food supplies
4. Floods as banks of rivers opened
5. Roads destroyed

Question 5

What was the effect of floods after Assam Earthquake? (4) (source)

Answer 5

1. Crops destroyed
2. Villages flooded
3. Sand deposits on land
4. Difficult to access medical care
   (The Effects of the Assam Earthquake, The Times of India, March 1898)

Question 6

How did Viceroy Lord Curzon respond to Assam earthquake? (2) (source)

Answer 6

1. Visited affected area in March 1900
2. Said that government prioritised famine and so expenditure would mostly be diverted there
   (‘Foreign Telegrams: Lord Curzon’s Visit to Assam’, The Guardia, March 1900)

Question 7

In the immediate aftermath, how did people find shelter? (source)

Answer 7

Stayed in native’s huts made of bamboo and thatch

Question 8

What was Shillong?

Answer 8

Shillong was summer capital of Bengal until 1874 and capital of Assam thereafter

Question 9

Why was Assam politically important?

Answer 9

The retreat of a powerful tea-planter community

Question 10

What was state involvement like after Assam earthquake? (source)

Answer 10

Marginal presence of state or charity. The major response to the events consisted of the Viceroy’s relief fund, in which voluntary donations were made by the departments of the state and by individuals
(Tirthankar Roy, Natural Disasters and Indian History, 2012)

Question 11

Why did the Assam earthquake prompt wage growth?

Answer 11

Greater demand for workers to rebuild cities and towns.

Question 12

What was the impact of the Assam earthquake on rents?

Answer 12

Higher rents and harder lease terms

Question 13

What was the cost of repairs for destruction to government buildings in Assam earthquake? (source)

Answer 13

Almost thirteen lakhs of rupees
(Cyrus David Foss, From the Himalayas to the equator; letters, sketches. and addresses, giving some account of a tour in India and Malaysia, 1899)

Question 14

Why does T. Roy argue that the events in Assam were not of central political importance?

Answer 14

The earthquake struck in an area with a relatively low population.

Question 15

How did one European complain about the rise in wages and prices in town after the Assam earthquake?

Answer 15

It seems hard, that the coolies should be allowed to profit so immensely by our misfortunes

Question 16

When was the Gujarat earthquake?

Answer 16

26 January 2001

Question 17

What was the magnitude of the Gujarat earthquake?

Answer 17

7.9 on Richter Scale

Question 18

How did buildings in Gujarat contribute to damage by the earthquake? (2) (source)

Answer 18

1. The rapid pace of high-rise constructions taking place, often bypassing safety laws
2. Chairman of India’s Housing and Development Corporation, V Suresh, says 80% of Indians build their own houses, without any help from architects or engineers
   (‘Quake Highlights Construction Fears’, BBC, January 2001)

Question 19

Why are there many high-rise buildings in India?

Answer 19

Space constraints and high population density

Question 20

How will city planners deal with violation of safety codes after the Gujarat earthquake?

Answer 20

Enforce and modify existing laws so that builders, architects, engineers and homeowners can be punished if violate safety codes.

Question 21

What was India’s second largest industrial region at the time of the Gujarat earthquake?

Answer 21

Gujarat

Question 22

What was the expected economic impact of the Gujarat earthquake? (6) (source)

Answer 22

1. An economist: revenues will drop from one of India’s industrial centres as well as massive reconstruction and rehabilitation expenditure
2. According to a preliminary estimate by the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI), fixing damage to buildings and installations expected to cost 150 billion rupees (US$3.3 billion). India cannot afford this expense
3. Industries such as pharmaceuticals, garments and cotton are expected to be severely affected because the earthquake hit rural areas hard
4. Massive loss of life and injuries and trauma will hurt the state’s economy; absenteeism and consequent loss of production will cost at least 4 billion rupees a day, estimates the FICCI
5. FICCI estimated that infrastructure losses would amount to 20-30 billion rupees—includes trapped telephone lines, broken electricity supplies and destroyed roads
6. Earthquake abruptly halted a recent influx of foreign investment: January 2001, foreign investment funds introduced US$650 million into the Indian stock market; this was almost half the total amount they spent on Indian shares during the whole of the previous year
   (‘The Cost of India’s Quake’, BBC, 2 February 2001)

Question 23

How did the Indian government intend to raise funds to pay for relief from the Gujarat earthquake? (3)

Answer 23

1. Give up the majority stake in the state-run telephone company, VSNL
2. Economic assistance from abroad; government asked the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank for a US$1.5 billion loan to aid restructuring
3. Tax surcharge
   (‘The Cost of India’s Quake’, BBC, 2 February 2001)

Question 24

What was life like four months after the Gujarat earthquake in Kotdi? (4) (source)

Answer 24

1. Families still living in tents
2. Not received aid
3. Villagers unsure of what they’re entitled to and what to rebuild
4. 600,000 people living in temporary shelters
   (Jill McGivering, ‘Gujarat: Rebuilding Shattered Lives’, BBC, June 2001)

Question 25

What was life like four months after the Gujarat earthquake in Bita Valadiya? (3) (source)

Answer 25

1. Rebuilding just started; villagers using materials paid for by UK charity, Save the Children 2. Villagers supposed to have earthquake-proof homes with low stone walls, but many new homes have high stone walls 3. Residents worried about looming monsoon season (Jill McGivering, 'Gujarat: Rebuilding Shattered Lives', BBC, June 2001)

Question 26

Where is Kotdi?

Answer 26

A village in Kutch district in the state of Gujarat

Question 27

Where is Gujarat?

Answer 27

A state in north-western India

Question 28

Where is Bita Valadiya?

Answer 28

A village in Kutch district in the state of Gujarat

Question 29

Where is Kutch?

Answer 29

A district in Gujarat

Question 30

How many people did the Gujarat earthquake kill?

Answer 30

122,000

Question 31

How were boundaries of caste and class discarded in the post-earthquake period in Gujarat? (4)

Answer 31

1. People helped each other by providing emotional support and pulling bodies from the rubble 2. Concern for other people alive among survivors until international relief material arrived; due to poor management and distribution, concern dissipated 3. Maheshwari, 2002: such social conditions lasted longer in rural than in urban areas ... distribution of aid along caste lines led to community divide 4. Over three years, norms and ethics of social lives resumed pre-earthquake positions

Question 32

What was the psychological impact of the Gujarat earthquake? (3) (source)

Answer 32

1. Depression: Only two men in the study reported to have 'sometimes' gone out to earn or run a small business; social and religious activities infrequent and not well-attended 2. Two years after the earthquake: state of suffering the same; 10/16 families, not much improvement found in emotional, cognitive, behavioural and social aspects since the first phase of the study 3. Third stage: marginal improvement in behavioural and emotional aspects of some participants; started paying attention to their present-life situation (Kumar Ravi Patel, 'Post-Quake Recovery in Urban Kachchh', 2004)

Question 33

What were the social conditions like in temporary camps after the Gujarat earthquake? (source)

Answer 33

Temporary resettlement colonies based on caste or community, but people lacked a feeling of togetherness; perhaps because of conditioning in individualistic patterns of urban life (Kumar Ravi Patel, 'Post-Quake Recovery in Urban Kachchh, 2004)

Question 34

How was aid split along social lines? (source)

Answer 34

There were gross irregularities in the assessment of loss of property and distribution of relief packages due to the inaction of authorities and distribution of relief packages; survivors feel a deep sense of intra-community and intra-caste 'economic divide' (Maheshwari, 2002)

Question 35

What was a negative impact of relief funds on males? (4)

Answer 35

1. Resulted in a lack of interest among males to work 2. Male youths engaged in unrestrained behaviour 3. Excessive expenditure on addictions like drinking 4. Mother or wife often bears brunt of this behaviour

Question 36

How did Indian people respond to the Gujarat earthquake?

Answer 36

1. Quake Relief Funds set up in all the states 2. Financial support and relief supplies poured in from all over the country 3. Relief camps set up by local voluntary organisations 4. Large Indian business houses and other private organisations adopted rehabilitation of entire villages 5. Shortly after the quake, British Indians raised £2 million within two hours

Question 37

What was the percentage of deaths in Kachchh as part of the total mortality?

Answer 37

More than 90%

Question 38

Did socio-economic changes in Kachchh have a positive or negative impact on survivors and what was this sharpened by? (source)

Answer 38

``` A negative impact that was sharpened by class and caste distinctions in the distribution of compensation. (K. Patel, Post-Quake Recovery in Urban Kachchh, 2004) ```

Question 39

How does M. Rutten criticise the government's response to the Gujarat earthquake?

Answer 39

Indian and Gujarat government immediately fell short in the major task of coordinating rescue and relief effort. (M. Rutten, Involvement and Indifference, 2001)

Question 40

How is M. Rutten hopeful for social change following the Gujarat earthquake?

Answer 40

Help and concern of Indian people for victims of Gujarat earthquake ‘a new and hopeful indication of a strengthening of civil society in India’ (M. Rutten, Involvement and Indifference, 2001)