After the calamity, there has been an increased awareness about the phenomenon and there is a general demand for safeguards against any such future occurrences so that the damage to human life and property is minimized. The recent earthquake in western India was one such rare occurrence which has taken the people all over unawares and the damage it has caused in varying degrees has been devastating the life of people in this region. For this reason, earthquakes are dreaded by human beings and their effects are only to be borne as they happen depending on their magnitude and duration, there is damage to life and property wherever theyВ strike. Scientific knowledge about them exists, but their time of occurrence, location and magnitude are difficult to forecast. The inspection was carried out on behalf of the Indian National Trust for Arts and Cultural Heritage (INTACH), during the period 25th March to 2nd AprilВ 2001.Д®arthquakes are natural phenomena which are yet to be fully understood. Some of the heritage buildings in Bhuj, Jamnagar, Wankaner, Morbi, Maliya, Halvad, Dranghedra and Ahmadabad were inspected by Rabindra Vasavada, an architect based in Ahmadabad specialising in conservation and Edmund Booth (, a civil engineer based in London specialising in seismic engineering. The Indian National Trust for Arts and Cultural Heritage (INTACH) has estimated that of 250 heritage buildings inspected in Kachchh and Rajkot, about 40% either collapsed or were seriously damaged, while only 10% remainedВ undamaged.

Many were seriously damaged during the January 2001 earthquake.

Some of these buildings are of international importance. Gujarat has a rich heritage of buildings built by the princely rulers of the area over the last 500 years.

Indian 2001 earthquake