Shimla/Dharamshala: The memory of the devastating 1905 Kangra earthquake still haunts the Himalayas. On April 4, 1905, a massive tremor measuring nearly 7.9 on the Richter scale ripped through the hills of Kangra and surrounding areas, leaving over 20,000 people dead and entire towns reduced to rubble.
More than a century later, Himachal Pradesh is turning that tragedy into a powerful reminder — and a call for preparedness across the Himalayan belt.
But the pace with the new concrete sky scrapers and multistoried buildings and structures have come up and are continuing to come up, it appears the state disaster management authority is fighting against the walls.
The earthquake flattened large parts of Dharamshala and McLeodganj, destroying nearly one lakh buildings and killing over 53,000 livestock. It remains the deadliest disaster ever recorded in the western Himalayas.
Today, as April 4 approaches, the state is preparing to observe Disaster Awareness Day, not just to remember the victims but to warn the present generation that the mountains they live in are among the most fragile seismic zones in the world.
Recent revisions by the Bureau of Indian Standards have placed the entire state of Himachal Pradesh in Seismic Zone VI, the highest earthquake risk category in the country. Earlier, different parts of the state fell in Zones IV and V.
The new classification reflects the growing tectonic stress along the Himalayan arc stretching from Jammu and Kashmir to Arunachal Pradesh.
Experts warn that if a magnitude 8 earthquake strikes the state, the consequences could be catastrophic.
A scenario study by the National Disaster Management Authority estimates that such an event could cause around 1.6 lakh deaths and more than 11 lakh injuries, underscoring the urgent need for preparedness.
Against this backdrop, the Himachal Pradesh State Disaster Management Authority (HPSDMA) has launched a statewide awareness campaign.
On April 4, earthquake safety drills will be conducted in schools, colleges, government offices and institutions across the state.
Students and officials will practice the internationally recognised “Drop, Cover and Hold” technique along with evacuation drills aimed at saving lives during real emergencies.
But experts say drills alone are not enough.
The bigger danger lies in unsafe construction practices, haphazard hill cutting and building houses on unstable slopes.
In recent years, thousands of homes in Himachal have suffered damage due to landslides, extreme weather and ground subsidence, exposing the vulnerability of hill settlements.
Traditional construction systems once used in the Himalayas — such as timber-reinforced masonry — were far more earthquake resistant.
However, these practices have been abandoned in favour of poorly designed concrete structures often built without engineering supervision and defying all buildingnorms.
One can only say: God bless the inhabitants of these building.
Disaster management experts often repeat a simple truth: “Earthquakes don’t kill people — unsafe buildings do.”
To promote safer construction, authorities have prepared technical manuals and launched mobile tools to guide engineers, masons and homeowners in earthquake-resistant building practices.
But these manuals remain more less dumped in files. It is blatant construction mania at its best everywhere not only in Himachal, but also in other Himalayan states.
The message that disaster management experts is pushing across villages, schools and government offices is simple but urgent: the Himalayas will continue to shake — preparedness will decide whether the next earthquake becomes a tragedy or a survivable event.
As Himachal marks April 4, the lesson of 1905 is once again echoing across the mountains — remember the past, prepare for safe secure future.
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