India has witnessed some of the most devastating earthquakes during the last century like the one in Kangra (1905), Bihar-Nepal (1934) and in Assam (1950). In the recent past, earthquakes have caused havoc in Uttarkashi (1991), Latur (1993), Jabalpur (1997), Chamoli (1999) and in Bhuj (2001).

On 26th January 2001, India experienced one of the worst earthquakes in recent times. Measuring 6.9 on the Richter scale, the earthquake caused incalculable damage not just to its epicenter, Bhuj but also to other towns of the district of Kutch and to about 500 villages out of the total of 900 villages. The reported damage to property in Gujarat was about Rs.21, 000crore and the number of human lives lost were about 14,000. Of these, more than 500 deaths were reported from Ahmedabad, situated at a distance of about 350 kms from Bhuj. In the same city, close to 150 multi-storied buildings crumbled down. Cities far away from the epicenter, like Surat, too reported damage to property.