By Maureen Fordham, March 2001
This is a short version of a personal
field report based on an international reconnaissance team visit to Gujarat, India between
25th February to 4th March 2001 - one month after the Bhuj, Gujarat earthquake (which
occurred at 8.46am on 26th January 2001). The reconnaissance survey was conducted by a
team of 21, including representatives from the fields of engineering, public
administration, political science, social geography and seismology. It was sponsored by
the World Seismic Safety Initiative (WSSI), Earthquake and Megacities Initiative (EMI), OYO
Corporation, US National Science Foundation, various universities, and self-funding. The
team also represented a number of countries including Bangladesh, Germany, India,
Indonesia, Iran, Japan, Kyrgizia, Malaysia, Norway, Nepal, The Philippines, Uganda, United
Kingdom, and United States. The trip spanned a period of seven days beginning 25th
February 2001 and ending on 3rd March 2001, and included affected regions of the Districts
of Kuchchh, Rajkot, Surendranagar and Ahmedabad. The team visited the following
cities/towns/villages: Ahmedabad, Anjar, Bhachau, Bhuj, Gandhidham, Kandala, Limbdi,
Morvi, Navlakhi, Rajkot, Surendranagar (download maps here: 104kb PDF file or 35kb
GIF file).
The mission of the trip was to investigate the Bhuj earthquake catastrophe from several
angles including, but not limited to, engineering, rebuilding and reconstruction, social,
economic, political, organizational, and disaster management perspectives, and identify:
(i) factors leading to the catastrophe, and (ii) ways to mitigate it. 
The team visited the following places (in order of
visit): Ahmedabad; Limbdi; Surendranagar; Morvi; Rajkot; Navlakhi; Bhachau; Anjar; Bhuj;
Gandhidham; Kandala; Ahmedabad. We had meetings with or spoke to various officials (eg
Collectors), NGOs, local community spokespersons and general members of the public. The
material here is based on this evidence and has not been verified subsequently against
documentary and other materials. The following personal report is organized sequentially
by chronology and location. It is not an in-depth, follow-up report but rather an
impressionistic, picture-based report containing many gaps and probably inaccuracies. Its
aim is to capture initial thoughts and impressions and it includes a number of research
questions which were raised during the field observations.
Please click on the photographs for an enlarged
version.
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