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Paleoseismic evidence of a giant medieval earthquake in the eastern Himalaya
Author(s) -
Mishra Rajeeb Lochan,
Singh I.,
Pandey A.,
Rao P. S.,
Sahoo H. K.,
Jayangondaperumal R.
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
geophysical research letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.007
H-Index - 273
eISSN - 1944-8007
pISSN - 0094-8276
DOI - 10.1002/2016gl068739
Subject(s) - radiocarbon dating , geology , fault scarp , seismology , fault (geology) , trench , intraplate earthquake , tectonics , archaeology , paleontology , geography , chemistry , organic chemistry , layer (electronics)
We present here the results of a paleoseismic investigation carried across a ~10 m high fault scarp at Panijhora village, West Bengal in northeastern India. Accelerator Mass Spectrometer analyzed 14 C radiocarbon age constraints from six detrital charcoal samples ranging between 1688 B.C. and A.D. 1152 are consistent with the great medieval earthquake of A.D. 1255 that is interpreted to have produced a minimum observed fault slip of ~5 m in the trench exposure. Recalibration of radiocarbon ages from previous studies at Harmutty, Nameri, and Marha in the eastern Himalaya using Bayesian statistical analyses further substantiates the possibility that the A.D. 1255 earthquake might have ruptured the Himalayan front over a length of ~800 km from ~85.87° to 93.76°E longitudes.