THE 24TH MARCH, 1995 CHAMBA EARTHQUAKE (NW HIMALAYA), FIELD OBSERVATIONS AND SEISMOTECTONICS

On 24th March, 1995 at 17:22 hr. IST (11:52 UTC) an earthquake of magn itude 4.9 mb (USGS) struck the Chamba region in northwest Himalaya. Th e epicentral zone lies 8-10 km northeast of Chamba township. Based on the isoseist characteristics, the source mechanism of this earthquake has been evaluated. The longest axis of the isoseismal is aligned in N W-SE direction, which is parallel to the trend of strike of rocks in t he area. The pattern of isoseismals suggest that the causative fault f or the 1995 Chamba earthquake is parallel to the local Himalayan trend s and the strain has been released at a very shallow depth.