1.

A Seismological Study of the Baluchistan (Quetta) Earthquake of May 31,

1935
K.R. Ramanathan and S.M. Mukherji (1938): Records of the Geological Survey of India,
Vol. 73, Part 4, Page 483-513

2. Preliminary Geological Report on the Baluchistan (Quetta) Earthquake of

May 31st, 1935
W.D. West (1936): Records of the Geological Survey of India, Vol. LXIX, Part 2, Page
203- 240

[Edited Transcription]

1. A Seismological Study of the Baluchistan (Quetta) Earthquake of May 31, 1935

A preliminary account of the earthquake has been published in GSI [Rec.

Geol.Surv.India, LXIX, Pt.2 (1936)] by W.D. West where he concludes “in the case of
the present earthquake there is no doubt about the position and extent of the epicenter,
since severe damage was confined to a long narrow tract, away from which the intensity
of the damage rapidly decreased. This tract extended from Baleli just NW of Quetta
through Dingar and Mastung to Mand-i-Haji and included the Shirinab valley to the west
of the Mastung-Kalat road. It is an area about 68 miles long and 16 miles wide. Within
this area there were clearly places where the intensity was greater than elsewhere, notably
Dingar and Mastung road and possibly Mand-i-Haji. Since it is well known that
earthquakes are more severely felt on alluvium than on solid rock, it is possible that the
length of the epicentral area as compared with its breadth has been enhanced to some
extent by the fact that it is parallel to the valleys of the district”. The surface crack
extended from about 30.3° N, 66.9° E to 29.7° N, 66.7° E. From the seismological
evidence, the best position for the epicenter appears to be 29.6° N, 66.5° E, slightly to
the SE of the above position, but well within the region of maximum intensity. The
origin time calculated is 30d 21h 32m 58.5s (GMT). The depth of focus could be
around 10 Km. The destructive nature of the Quetta earthquake and the fact that the long-
wave phases in the seismograms were exceptionally well-developed show that the depth
of focus of this earthquake was smaller than normal. The energy of the earthquake
calculated from different seismic observatories are; Bombay: energy of the long waves of
the earthquake greater than 3.2 x 1020 ergs; at Kodaikanal, the energy of the long waves
found to be 1.5 x 1021 ergs; from the Gottingen the value is 3.4 x 1020 . No doubt there
are considerable differences in the recorded amplitudes depending on the crustal structure
at the recording station but the above values give an approximate idea of the energy of
the earthquake; it is clear that the energy must have been of the order of 1021 ergs.
The equation connecting the maximum ground amplitude and the magnitude is
M= log a- log A0- 2.5 where M is the magnitude of the earthquake, ‘a’ is the maximum
recorded ground amplitude and A0 is a constant depending on the distance of the station
from the earthquake center, being the maximum amplitude in millimeters in the recorded
trace of a standard torsion seismometer by a shock of magnitude 0. Gutenberg and

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Richter have drawn a curve showing the relation between A0 and ∆ and we extract a table
showing this relation.

Distance in degrees ∆ log A0

1 -3.1
2.5 -4.0
5 -5.0
10 -5.8
20 -6.5
45 -7.0
100 -7.5
150 -8.0
The energy of the earthquake E being proportional to the square of the amplitude, the
relation between energy and magnitude is log E – log E0 =2M, where E0 is the energy of
an earthquake of magnitude 0.
The following table gives the recorded maximum horizontal ground movements at a few
observatories due to the Quetta earthquake and the corresponding calculated values of the
magnitude.

Station ∆° Maximum horizontal M

amplitude (µ)
Budapest 40.4 614 7.2
Zagreb 42.3 756 7.4
Hongkong 45.2 c.400 7.1
Barcelona 52.5 580 7.5
Kew 53.1 > 450 > 7.4
S. Fernando 59.9 250 7.1
Melbourne 99.5 157 7.2

Taking 7.3 to be the magnitude of the earthquake, its energy E is given by

Log E= 14.6 + log E0; E0 the energy of a shock of magnitude 0 is given by Gutenberg and
Richter as 107 to 108. Taking E0 as 107 ergs, E= 4.0 x 1021 ergs.

Within three days after the main shock, nearly 20 shocks were felt in the vicinity of
Quetta. Of these, the one which occurred on June 2nd at 9h16m33s GMT was the most
severe.

Summary: The times of arrival of the P waves from the Quetta Earthquake at different
observatories throughout the world have been analysed and the position of the epicenter
has been determined to be 29.6° N, 66.5° E, and the epicentral time to be 30d 21h 32m
58.5s (GMT). Among the prominent features of the seismograms were the gradual
increase of amplitude interrupted by larger and larger impulses and the large amplitudes
of the long waves compared with those of the preliminary, suggesting block movement
and a shallow depth of focus. An analysis of the S-P residuals using Jeffreys and Bullen’s
normal tables showed that its mean value was about +3 sec. suggesting a depth of focus
definitely less than normal depth (10km) and possibly also complex process at origin.
The energy of the earthquake is estimated to be about 1021 ergs.

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2. Preliminary Geological Report on the Baluchistan (Quetta) Earthquake of May 31st,
1935

This is a preliminary report written before all the information has come to hand. For this
reason the map which forms Plate 23 does not show the isoseismal lines in full. The
earthquake which devastated Quetta and surrounding country on May 31st, 1935, has,
from the point of view of the number of lives lost, to be accounted the most disastrous
earthquake which has visited India within historic times. The tragic irony of the disaster
lay in the fact that, although it occurred in the least populated district of India, yet it
happened to strike that area at its most populated point, thus causing great damage both to
life and property. Although the intensity within the epicentral tract was so great, the
shock was felt over a comparatively small area, probably not much more than 100,000 sq
miles. This may be compared with the figure of 370,000 for the Mach earthquake of
1931, with figures of 1,900,000 for the North Bihar earthquake of 1934, and with the
figure of 1,625,000 for the Kangra earthquake of 1905.

Intensity

Since the main damage to buildings during an earthquake is caused by the horizontal
component of the motion, it is desirable to know the intensity of this force, so that
buildings may be designed to withstand it. This force is generally taken to be proportional
to the rate of acceleration of the wave particle, which is measured in feet or millimeter
per second. Since it is rare for there to be within the area most severely affected an
instrument capable of making the measurements, Intensity scales are most commonly
used like, Rossi-Forel and Mercalli scales, not on any precise measurement of the forces
acting, but on the general way in which the earthquake affects human beings and damage
buildings. For the present earthquake although assigning an intensity of 10 on the R-F
scale to the epicentral tract, I am of the opinion that the shock only just reached that
degree of intensity, and that there may well have been places within the tract which did
not receive a shock greater than 9. The line of greatest intensity is probably closely
marked out by the remarkably straight line of fissuring in the alluvium, which extends for
nearly 70 miles along the center of the tract.

Beyond the outer broken line (plate 23) the shock was not generally perceived. The area
enclosed by this line is approximately 105,000 sq miles, which, considering the intensity
of the shock at the epicenter is unexpectedly small. The Mach earthquake of 1931 was
much less severe at the epicenter, yet it was felt over an area of 370,000 sq miles. In
places where the intensity of the shock must have been as high as 4 on the R-F scale it
was not felt by people who were asleep. Had the shock occurred during the day, it might
easily have been felt over as large an area as that in which the Mach earthquake was felt.
The two earthquakes are alike in the manner in which they extend up the Indus valley.
From this it may be concluded either that alluvium transmits a shock with greater force
than solid rock, or that the alluvium accentuates the motion of the shock when it reaches
it from the solid rock below. Whichever of these two hypotheses is correct, the fact
remains that places situated on alluvium are always more severely affected during an
earthquake than those situated on solid rock.

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Ground Motion

Motion of ground during an earthquake varies in different earthquakes, and even from
place to place in the same earthquake depending to some extent upon the nature of the
ground. In considering the nature of the motion, a distinction has to be made between two
types. In the first place there are the ‘long’ waves by which the earthquake impulse is
transmitted over the surface of the earth. In the second place there are subsidiary surface
waves which are apparently induced in soft ground by the passage of the ‘long’ waves.
The ‘long’ waves travel at about two miles a second, and have a period of about one to
one and a half seconds. It is therefore clear that such wave motion, in which the crests of
the waves are over 2 miles apart and their amplitude perhaps not more than a few inches,
would not be visible. At the same time there is a large body of evidence suggesting that
waves in the ground are definitely seen at the time of an earthquake, though it is possible
that the amplitude of these waves has been much exaggerated. These visible waves are
probably seen in soft ground and they may be subsidiary waves set up in the alluvium by
the main ‘long’ waves as they pass through the solid rock below. In the case of the Quetta
earthquake, since the shock occurred in the night, evidence regarding the nature of the
ground motion is rather confusing. It so happened however that night operations were
being conducted about 4 miles north of Quetta, and thus definite evidence regarding the
nature of movement is forthcoming.

At least five to ten seconds before the main shock started, a small tremor was felt which
was sufficiently strong to be recognized as an earthquake. In Quetta itself a sentry on
duty on top of the Ammunition depot noticed a shake which he considered to have
occurred at least half a minute before the main movement. Those who did not lie down at
once were either flung down or were just able to stagger about. The ground heaved as in a
rough sea, or in a way a small boat behaves in the wake of a larger steamer. The direction
of the waves was mainly from south to north, but occasionally from east to west. The
motion subsided gradually, fading away towards NW, accompanied by the sound of
falling rocks. In Quetta most people described the shock as a rapid horizontal shake in N-
S direction. The Yate Memorial clock tower, situated near the Quetta Club was 60 feet
high and of hexagonal cross-section, and was thus free to fall in most directions; it fell
almost due north. Generally, long buildings which were aligned in an E-W direction were
overturned sideways, whereas those aligned N-S generally remained standing with only
their end walls collapsed. Even this generalization did not hold good in all parts of
Quetta, and that movement varied from place to place. In the cemetery several marble
crosses snapped right through at the level at which they were inset into their plinths; four
monuments were found to have rotated, two clockwise to the extent of 13° and 18°, and
two anti-clockwise to the extent of 11° and 43°.

Rock Falls

When dawn came after the earthquake, it was at once noticed that the mountain sides
around Quetta were in many cases scarred by falling of immense quantities of rock.
These rock falls (mostly limestones) were most in evidence in the hills by the Brewery,
and along the whole length of the Chiltan range. On the afternoon of Sunday June 2nd

4
when a severe aftershock occurred, a great number of pockets of dust were seen to arise
from the sides of Chiltan, as though it had been bombarded with shells. This dust, after
coalescing and rising some 1,500 feet above the mountain, was carried horizontally by a
current of air, the whole phenomenon remaining visible for an hour or more after the
shock. Rock falls were occurring on Chiltan as late as June 10th and were again in
evidence at the time of the severe aftershock of July 15.

Fissuring of the Alluvium

A feature of the earthquake which aroused much interest locally was a line of fissuring in
the ground extending on and off for about 65 miles, from the south side of Chiltan to near
Kalat. Over the greater part of this distance it took the form of a crack or network of
branching cracks in the soil. These were from an inch up to eight inches wide at the top,
but closed in quickly below. Just west of Mastung, the ground on the west side of the
fissure had subsided abruptly about two and a half feet, though a little further south the
subsidence was on the east side. In some places, instead of a subsidence or a gaping
crack, the ground had been heaved up, the elevated portion being a foot or more high and
several paces wide, indicating compression of the soil. To account for these varying
phenomena, it seems likely that motion of the ground during the earthquake was one of
alternate compression and tension. Where the line of fissuring crossed the railway track
that runs from Spezand to Nushki, at about two miles west of Mastung Road station, the
track had been up-rooted and the rails crumpled along the line of the fissure. The average
direction of the fissuring by Mastung was about N15° E, so that it coincided both as
regards direction as well as position with the long axis of the epicentral zone. Particular
care was taken to find out if it affected the solid rock beneath the alluvium or was
confined entirely to the latter. Everywhere it was found that where hills intervened along
the line, the fissuring died out, though rock falls were rather numerous and evidently took
place of the fissuring along the same line. This was well seen to the NW of Mastung
Road, on the southern flanks of Chiltan. It was thus quite clear that the fissuring was a
purely surface phenomenon, affecting only the alluvium, and not penetrating the solid
rock beneath. At the same time it does seem to have coincided with the line of maximum
disturbance, though it continued a long way to the south beyond the epicentral zone.
Considerable fissuring of the alluvium was also to be seen to the northwest of Quetta. At
one place near the 11th milestone along the Regi road, a number of fissures crossed the
road over a distance of about 230 yards. They were also prominently developed by the
Baleli village, and in many places along and parallel to the banks of the Quetta Lora,
causing considerable damage to the bridge on the Brewery road and to several bridges
near Baleli.

Mud Vents and Volcanoes

NW of Quetta there occurred a number of small mud vents which had been formed by
water spouting out of the ground and bringing up the fine silt which forms so much of the
‘pat’ of the Quetta valley. Since the earthquake occurred during the night it is not
possible to say if the water came out with any force. At dawn cold water was seen to be
welling out slowly. These vents varied from a foot up to 12 feet in diameter but were

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never mote than from six inches to a foot high. Some 12 miles south of Kalat on the main
road to Surab, about three miles east of the road near the village of Thok, large quantities
of liquid mud were observed issuing from the top of a low mound at the time of the
earthquake. This continued until about noon the next day, when it gradually died down
after an eruption lasting for nine hours. When I visited the place on June 20th it was
evident that the mound was an old mud volcano which had burst into eruption again,
though none of the local inhabitants could recall any similar event in the past. The new
flows had spread out beyond the limits of the old, the distance between the tips of the
flows on opposite sides of the vent being just over three hundred yards. The term ‘mud
volcano’ is a misnomer since they are not thought to be connected with true volcanic
activity.

Geological Structure and Baluchistan Earthquakes

The mountains of Baluchistan are formed of comparatively simple folds, the axes of
which are parallel to the alignment of the mountains. In general the anticlines form ridges
and the synclines the valleys. In general the folds should be aligned in a NE-SW
direction. This however is not the case and instead the mountains are looped up to the
northwest between Jacodabad and Quetta. Thus the geology around Quetta is more
complicated than it is in other part of Baluchistan and the rocks have yielded here not
only by folding but also by fracture. It is therefore around this re-entrant angle that one
would expect most earthquakes to originate. On the map forming Plate 24, there are
shown the epicenters of earthquakes which have occurred in Baluchistan in the last 83
years and strong enough to damage buildings. Against the position of each epicenter is
given a serial number. These indicate the order in which the earthquakes have occurred
beginning with the Kahan earthquake of 1852. The manner in which these earthquakes
are grouped around the re-entrant is very striking. Earthquakes have also occurred
elsewhere, but their intensity has been slight, and what may be termed the danger zone of
this part of the earthquake belt of India appears to lie within a radius of about 150 miles
of Mastung.

Chaman is situated some seven miles to the west of a well marked fault, which has been
the epicenter of several earthquakes in the past. The fault is seen as a well marked
depression in the ground, which meets the main road close to the 70/2 furlong stone, near
where the shorter alternative route from the hills joins the main road, and less than half a
mile east of Old Chaman. The depression can clearly be seen running in a straight line to
the S15°W, cutting right across the surface topography. Its position is also marked out by
a long line of springs. It evidently continues for many miles to the south, ascending the
slopes of the Khwaja Amran range, and continuing on across hill and valley to near
Nushki. Col. Sir A.H. McMahon, who examined this fissure when he was demarcating
the Baluch-Afgan boundary in 1896, wrote in the Geographical Journal ‘We found that
the old greybeards of the tribes residing in the neighbourhood all know of its existence.
They told us that during their lifetime, on some three occasions after severe earthquake
shocks, deep fissures had appeared along this line, and they had had similar accounts
handed down to them by their fathers. At the time of the well known earthquake of 1892,
very clear evidence was provided of movement along this fault. According to Vredenburg

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[Baluchistan District Gazetteer, V, p.18, 1907], there is geological evidence suggesting
that the country west of this fault has subsided altogether more than a thousand feet. This
amount of movement must, of course, have taken place over a very long period of time,
but it is evident from the facts concerning the 1892 earthquake that the movement has not
yet ceased. During a short visit to Chaman, I questioned a number of the older inhabitants
with a view to finding out if there had been any serious earthquake since the one in 1892.
Several of them spoke of a fairly severe shock which occurred about thirty years ago.
This also caused movement and fissuring along the same fault line; and although it did
not damage the railway line, it cracked a number of buildings in Chaman. Since then,
there had been about a dozen little shocks of slight intensity.