1

Quittmeyer and Jacob (BSSA,1979) gives

a date of 15 July, 1720 with maximum

intensity around VII- IX; epicenter

located at 28.53 N: 77.20E

The account given by Baird Smith (1843)

referring to Elphinstone is quoted in the

next page

2

The next Earthquake in order of time, which is referrible to the Aravulli tract is that of July, (day not ascertained,) 1720, experienced at Delhi. It occurred in the reign of Mahommed Shah, and during the troubles that prevailed while the two Seiad brothers, Abdullah Khan and Hosein Ali Khan, usurped the functions of the imperial Government. It is referred to only incidentally by Mr. Elphinstone in his History of India, (Vol. II, p. 586), while narrating the defeat, on several occasions, of the imperial troops by those of Asof Jah, the founder of the sovereignty of the Nizams of the Deccan. "These events," Mr. Elphinstone remarks, "threw the Seiads into consternation, and though secretly agreeable to the emperor and many of the nobility, filled the minds of reflecting men with dismal forebodings of the ruin of the Empire. This gloom was rendered deeper among a superstitious people by a violent Earthquake which occurred about this time, and seemed to threaten the existence of the capital: and in these depressing circumstances, the brothers betrayed those signs of irresolution which are often the fore-runners of great calamities." There is now pointed out in Delhi a mosque, one of the minars of which, (still unrepaired,) is traditionally said to have been thrown down by an Earthquake which occurred in the early part of last century, possibly by that now under notice. Mr. Elphinstone also mentions, that the beautiful column, called the Cuttub Minar, situated about 12 miles from modern Delhi, lost its upper portion from the effects of an Earthquake, but no clue to the date of this accident is given. (Elphin. Hist. Vol. II, p. 9).

3

The earthquake of 24 October 1831 felt at Delhi was less severe than the July 1720 earthquake. Quittmeyer and Jacob (BSSA, 1979) gives maximum intensity around VI- VII; epicenter located at 28.53 N: 77.20E

4

VI.—Earthquake near Delhi.

To the Editor of the Gleanings in Science.

SIR,

I beg leave to send you a short account of a smart shock of an earthquake which occurred in my neighbourhood on the 24th October, at half past noon. I

am encamped in north latitude 28° 34' 00", and longitude 78° 04' 26" east from Greenwich. The wind was west, from which quarter it has been blowing steadily for some days, but just previous to the earthquake was in strong gusts; the horizon was hazy, but there were no clouds, and no noise was heard ; the motion was apparently perpendicular, if any thing from the north to the south; it continued for a full minute, and was the most severe, many persons in my camp say, they ever felt . Books moved from their places on the table, and the tent was literally shaken, and the mango trees appeared as violently shaken, as if a branch was seized and shaken, for the purpose of throwing off the fruit; a palanqueen near the tent moved, as if shaken; and it was with difficulty we could stand on the ground. My bearer actually laid hold of the kanats of the tent, and every one got sick, as if we had been at sea; but the most extraordinary circumstance is, that though the earthquake was equally strong, and perceptibly felt to the southward, none of my parties who were detached to the northward three or four miles, felt it. The shock was so strong and continued, that I sent to the village distant about a quarter of a mile to know if any accident had occurred, and was informed, that although the people were much alarmed, no damage was sustained.

From all the information I can hear, I am inclined to believe, that though so awfully alarming at this spot, it was very partial and confined, tending to prove the theory of some French philosophers, that partial tremblings of the earth of this nature, are caused by the subsiding of the matter of the earth into a more solid mass, and are not to be attributed to the usual causes of combustion and explosions.

Camp, 26th October, 1831.

Since writing the above, I have heard that at a large village called Khanpur, two miles south-west of this, the people ran out of their houses for fear of their tumbling down; many people were thrown down, and some stones fell from the northern gate.