The Assam earthquake of 1897 occurred on June 12, 1897 in Assam, British Raj, and had an estimated [1]

magnitude of 8.1Mw. Thought to have happened 20 miles (32 km) underground, it left 150,000 square miles (390,000 km ) of 2 masonry buildings in ruins and was felt over 250,000 square miles (650,000 km ) from Burma to New Delhi. Numerous buildings in the neighboring country of Bhutan were heavily damaged. There were very [2] many aftershocks. Considering the size of the earthquake, the mortality rate was not that high, with about 1500 casualties, but property damage was very heavy.
2

The earthquake was accompanied by a very marked undulation of the ground, different accounts placing the lengths of these undulations from 8 feet to 10 yards, and their heights from 1 to 3 feet. The vertical range of these motions was at least 8 inches. In many places river beds or drainage channels were filled up with sand. Oldham reported that a large number of channels 15 to 20 feet deep between the foot of the Garo Hills and Brahmaputra, which normally were dry but were filled with water during the rainy season, were filled up with sand and earth to the level of the banks. This and other such riverbed fillings caused serious floods in 1897 which was most severe in Barpeta subdivision. This also resulted in many of the rivers and streams deserting their old channels and forming new ones after the floods of August and September.
Report on the Great Earthquake of 12 June 1897, by R.D. Oldham, Superintendent, Geological Survey of India, 1899. Memoirs of the Geological Survey of India, Vol. XXIX, Branner Geological Library, Stanford University Library.
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Richard Dixon Oldham's classic memoir on the great Mw = 8.1 Assam earthquake of 1897 is seminal for its seismological observations, insights, and conclusions (Oldham 1899). Teleseismic arrivals of waves from Shillong led Oldham (18581936) to distinguish the three types of seismic waves and eventually to recognize from them the distinctive presence of the Earth's core.

The descriptions of 1897 Assam earthquake provided the principal model for the highest grade, XII, of the Modified Mercalli intensity scale. As a consequence of devastation caused by this earthquake, the Assam-type house was developed which later became popular in the entire north-east and which is known for its excellent earthquake resistance
Oldhams studies made significant contributions to seismology (the science of earthquakes). Oldham showed that if we record earthquake waves arriving in three different stations around the world, we can determine the earthquake location by simple geometric calculations. Similarly, if we know the travel times of seismic waves and the distance between the epicentre (earthquake point on the surface of the Earth) and a receiving seismic station, we can calculate the depth (focal point) of the earthquake. By studying the character of the seismic waves, Oldham distinguished two types: P waves (primary or pressure waves) which travel faster and are first recorded by the seismograph, and S waves (secondary or shear waves) which travel only through solid material. From travel paths of the P and S waves through the Earth, Oldham

and some other seismologists discovered that the Earths core consists of an inner solid core surrounded by an outer fluid core.

The 1905 Kangra Earthquake

On 4 April 1905, a large earthquake struck the Kangra valley in northwest India. Charles Middlemiss, a British geologist at the Geological Survey of India, visited the areas affected by this earthquake and prepared a 409-page report (The Kangra earthquake of 4th April, 1905, published in Memoir of Geological Survey of India, 1910) which is still probably the longest report written by a single geologist on a single earthquake! Middlemiss mentions that about 20,000 people were killed in this catastrophe. Charles Richter, an American seismologist who designed the Richter Scale for the magnitude of earthquakes, estimated the magnitude of the 1905 Kangra earthquake to have been 8.6; however, more recent assessments suggest that the magnitude was lower, probably 7.8. The 1934 Bihar-Nepal Earthquake On 15 January 1934 an earthquake with a magnitude of over 8 shook a large area in Nepal and Bihar, killing 10,500 people. Seismologists M. R. Panday (from Nepal) and Peter Molnar (from the US) have estimated that this earthquake ruptured an area of 100-300 km long and displaced rocks by six meters on average. The 1950 Assam Earthquake On 15 August 1950 an earthquake with a magnitude of 8.7 struck Assam in northeast India. This was the largest recorded earthquake in the Himalaya but it hit a low-population region, causing relatively fewer casualties. Peter Molnar has suggested that a fault of some 200 kilometres long was ruptured in this earthquake and displaced rocks by nine meters.