1950 Assam-Tibet earthquake

The shock struck at 7:39pm Indian Standard Time on Tuesday 15 August 1950, with its epicentre placed 40 km west of Rima, also called Zayu or Chayu, in southeastern Tibet, where the shaking was most severe. It was felt across Northeast India, Burma, East Pakistan, Tibet and southern China, over an area of 3 million square kilometres. In Assam the property loss exceeded that of the 1897 earthquake, and magnitude estimates differ between 8.6 and 8.7.

Origin time (UTC)

1950-08-15T14:09

Magnitude

8.6

Magnitude type

mw

Depth (km)

15

Deaths, as sources state them

approximately 4,800, comprising 1,526 recorded in Assam and 3,300 reported in Tibet

USGS event page

earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/eventpage/official19500815140934_30

Category: Disasters & Incidents

Tags: continental, himalaya, india, tibet

Coordinates: 28.363, 96.445

Part of Earthquakes of magnitude 8.5 and above since 1900

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