Soil Dynamics and Earthquake Engineering 75 (2015) 121–129

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Soil Dynamics and Earthquake Engineering

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Technical Note

2011 Sikkim Earthquake at Eastern Himalayas: Lessons learnt from

performance of structures
Sekhar Chandra Dutta a,n, Partha Sarathi Mukhopadhyay b, Rajib Saha c, Sanket Nayak a
a
Department of Civil Engineering, Indian School of Mines, Dhanbad 826004, Jharkhand, India
b
Department of Architecture, Town and Regional Planning, Indian Institute of Engineering Science and Technology, Shibpur, P. O. Botanic Garden, Howrah
711103, West Bengal, India
c
Civil Engineering Department, National Institute of Technology Agartala, Jirania 799046, Tripura(w), India

ar t ic l e i nf o a b s t r a c t

Article history: On 18 September 2011, all the Indian states and countries surrounding Sikkim witnessed a devastating
Received 26 March 2015 moderate earthquake of magnitude 6.9 (Mw). Originating in Sikkim–Nepal border with an intensity of VIþ in
Accepted 27 March 2015 MSK scale, this earthquake caused collapse of both unreinforced masonry buildings, heritage structures and
framed structures followed by landslides and mud slides at various places of Sikkim. Significant damages have
Keywords: been observed in relatively new framed structures mainly in Government buildings, thick masonry structures,
Damage analysis while, the older wooden frame (ekra) non-engineered structures performed well during the earthquake.
Out-of-plane rotation Further, it is noteworthy that government buildings suffered more than private ones and damages were
Plastic hinge observed more in newer framed structures than older ones. Analysis of the damages identify lateral spreading
Pounding
of slope, pounding of buildings, out-of-plane rotation, generation of structural cracks, plastic hinge formation at
Sikkim Earthquake
column capitals and damage of infill wall material as predominant damage features. A few remedial measures
Soil deterioration
Structural crack are also attempted to be mentioned with future need of research and application. It has been felt to create
awareness regarding these issues and is the need of the hour.
& 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction include the September 2009 Bhutan earthquake of Mw 6.1, the

February 2006 Sikkim Earthquake of Mw 5.3, the August 1988
1.1. Regional setting and seismological features Bihar–Nepal earthquake of Mw 6.5 and the November 1980 Sikkim
Earthquake of Mw 6.0.The hilly terrain of Sikkim, ranging from 271N to
Sikkim is a small state in northeast India at the foothills of the 201N and 871590 E to 881560 E, is wedged between Nepal at its west and
Eastern Himalayas with the main thrust faults (main boundary thrust Bhutan at its East, flanked by the Indian states of Bihar at its South-
[MBT] and main central thrust [MCT]) crossing the state (Fig. 1). In the West and West Bengal at its south, and surrounded by Tibetan China
evening of 18 September 2011, it witnessed a moderate earthquake of along its north to north-east boundary. Encircled by the three
magnitude 6.9 (Mw), which is referred hereafter as the ‘2011 Sikkim international boundaries with Bhutan, China and Nepal, this strategi-
Earthquake’. This particular event, considered as the largest mid-to- cally located state is divided into four districts, namely, East Sikkim,
deep crustal earthquake of the region recorded by the Himalayan North Sikkim, West Sikkim and South Sikkim. Impact of the quake was
Nepal Tibet Seismic experiment, was followed by a number of after- actively felt by all the Indian states and countries surrounding Sikkim,
shocks, three of whose magnitudes were more than 4.2 (Mw) [2]. The each of which was witness to human death and building collapse.The
earthquake had its origin near the Sikkim–Nepal border. The Gangtok acceleration time history of the main shock was recorded at Gangtok
and Teesta lineaments, transverse to the Himalaya's are responsible for and the PGA was 0.15 g. The death toll was beyond 100, the number
many earthquakes in the region. A strong earthquake of Mw 8.1 struck being highest in Sikkim. It is worthy to mention here that the region
in January of 1934 along the Bihar–Nepal border along the interplate falls in Zone IV of the Indian seismic zoning map [3] where a
boundary. Other major earthquakes in this area in the last 50 years maximum intensity of VIII is expected.

1.2. Account of the disaster

n
Corresponding author. Mobile: þ 91 78944 07830; fax: þ91 326 2296511.
E-mail addresses: [email protected],
[email protected] (S.C. Dutta),
The authors had a technical visit to the areas affected by 2011
[email protected] (P.S. Mukhopadhyay), [email protected] (R. Saha), Sikkim Earthquake in December 2011. Accordingly, a reconnais-
[email protected], [email protected] (S. Nayak). sance based damage survey was conducted in December 2011 in

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0267-7261/& 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
122 S.C. Dutta et al. / Soil Dynamics and Earthquake Engineering 75 (2015) 121–129

Fig. 1. Location of epicentres of the past earthquakes and thrust faults in Sikkim [1].

the four districts of Sikkim along with Kalimpong and Siliguri the newer structures than the older ones. These two primary
divisions of the Darjeeling district of West Bengal, as these areas observations point towards any one or combination of three
were reported to have suffered significantly. Propagation of a large reasons: (a) low-grade quality of material, (b) mediocre workman-
number of aftershocks is a typical feature of the seismic history of ship and (c) second-rate technical supervision. It is also to be
this region. However, each of the three aftershocks of the 2011 noted that the magnitude of 2011 quake is relatively higher within
Sikkim Earthquake is individually capable of causing significant last 50 years in comparison to the earthquakes struck in this area.
damage to the load-bearing unreinforced masonry structures In addition to areas with previous history, landslides further
(URM) of the region which are weak in tensile strength and shear occurred at different places resulting damage of buildings, many
strength. The catastrophic effect of the earthquake is mostly felt in portions of the national and state highway sand abutments of
North Sikkim, which is evident from Fig. 2 where one finds only bridges as reported elsewhere [6]. However, there was no reported
the ruinous remaining of the entirely devastated Mangan Church damage of any bridge. Amidst these havoc, it was notable that
situated in Mangan town, the district headquarter of North Sikkim. majority of the non-engineered buildings made with combination
The impact of the 2011 Sikkim Earthquake seems to be of wood and bamboo survived.
responsible for severe damage of a number of framed structures
in addition to the usual damage of URM buildings and infill walls
caused by the earlier 2006 Sikkim Earthquake, a moderate quake 2. Damage profile
of magnitude 5.7 (Mw) [4,5]. A number of monasteries, living
testimonies of the religio-cultural heritage of the Vajrayana sect of The buildings of the surveyed area can be broadly divided into
Indian Buddhism, suffered considerable damage. three types, namely framed reinforced concrete (RC) structures with
Among the damaged framed structures, two general trends brick infill, unreinforced load bearing masonry buildings (URM), and
were noted. Firstly, the government buildings suffered more than timber-framed buildings with timber board or bamboo-matting (ekra)
their private counterpart. Secondly, damage was observed more in in between. The URM units are stone ashlars, kiln-burnt clay bricks or
 S.C. Dutta et al. / Soil Dynamics and Earthquake Engineering 75 (2015) 121–129 123

cement blocks laid in cement, cement–lime, lime, lime–mud or mud where the two private buildings in Gangtok, one six-storied and
mortar. The random rubble, locally made brick and bamboo/timber another ten-storied, on one such hill pocket has resulted in severe
made buildings are categorised as ‘non-engineered’ ones, as their damage of the six-storied structure, and complete collapse of the
strength properties are not codified. The damage profiles of twenty- taller heavier one due to amplified ground shaking.
five buildings surveyed in Sikkim and Darjeeling, which exhaustively The phyllites and schists of the Precambrian rocks of Sikkim are
represent various types of damages of engineered as well as non- prone to weathering. This, along with intense rain, causes exten-
engineered buildings, are illustrated below. The damage profiles of sive soil erosion. This constant erosion of the soil causes consider-
these buildings are categorised under five general damage features, able change in its bearing capacity within short distances,
each followed by suggested remedial measures. Before concluding, the sometimes resulting in lateral movement of slopes during earth-
paper further discusses features of the undamaged non-engineered quakes. Another three-storied Treasury Building situated in the
buildings. SDO office compound, Kalimpong in Darjeeling district of West
Bengal suffered damages due to differential soil condition induced
2.1. Collapse due to amplification of ground shaking and lateral slope movement. One side of the building has subsided causing
spreading wide cracks at the floor and plinth level (Fig. 3b). It is learnt that
the rear ground portion of the land, towards hill slope, is actually a
In general, the maximum intensity of ground shaking in the filled-up land, which has resulted in subsidence as well as lateral
entirely effected area was estimated as VI þ MSK scale, but some spreading due to earthquake shaking. The 2011 Sikkim Earthquake
pockets had higher shaking owing to site specific amplification of has further triggered transverse cracks along the shear walls
ground motion. Significant damage in buildings was reported (e.g., leaving the building abandoned. However, the top floors of the
ITBP quarters at Pegong in Chungthang [6]) which were sited on building were relatively less affected. Similar subsidence of floors
gradually sloping mountain meadows, probably due to sustained has also been observed at ground floor of office building within
amplification of ground shaking. Fig. 3a illustrates one such case Enchey Monastery Complex (Fig. 3c).

Fig. 2. Remains of the Mangan Church at Mangan town, North Sikkim entirely devastated by the impact of 2011 Sikkim Earthquake.

Six-
storied
Remnants of a
ten - storied
Pounding

Fig. 3. RCC buildings damaged due to deteriorating soil condition during 2011 Sikkim Earthquake;(a) devastated six-storied private building and total collapse of a ten-
storied building at Baluakhali in Gangtok, East Sikkim; (b) wide floor-cracks due to subsided ground below Treasury Building, Kalimpong, Darjeeling; (c) subsidence of
ground below office building within Enchey Monastery Complex, East Sikkim.
124 S.C. Dutta et al. / Soil Dynamics and Earthquake Engineering 75 (2015) 121–129

2.2. Pounding of buildings 2.3. Collapse due to out-of-plane rotation

Pounding, a common phenomenon in the hills, was also observed Out-of-plane collapse of unreinforced masonry walls due to the
to have damaged many buildings during the 2011 Sikkim Earthquake, lateral thrusts of earthquake is a typical failure pattern observed
including the six-storied private building referred in Fig. 3a, which due to the 2011 Sikkim Earthquake. The Mani Lhakhang Prayer
collided with the one situated to its right. In fact, absence of any Hall at Rongynek near the Sikkim State Jail in East Sikkim
effective techno-legal framework regarding the building rules for illustrates one such case (Fig. 5a). The dominant north–south
private construction and ignorance about the ill effects of the direction of the ground motion of the 2011 Sikkim Earthquake
phenomenon of pounding, coupled with growing pressure of urbani- has resulted in collapse of the 500 mm thick north and south
sation has created this situation.Fig. 4a and b illustrates the issue of rubble walls of the Hall, while its east and west walls remained
pounding of buildings through instances of Gangtok, East Sikkim. almost intact. This phenomenon points towards the issue of
Fig. 4c illustrates the same issue through an example of Siliguri, absence of proper connection between the north–south oriented
West Bengal, where two RCC buildings, namely Ganesh Brothers walls with the east–west oriented walls. A proper connection
Market Building and Kundu Bhawan were observed to have collided between these two sets of walls would have saved the walls
with each other. Apparently no other damage was visually collapsing due to out-of-plane rotation as long as the other pair
observed from outside. It was further noted that the length of did not fail. Another similar devastating damage is observed in a
these two buildings, constructed keeping practically no distance brick masonry wall of ground floor of Tashling Secretariat building
between them, is almost six times their width. However, these at Gangtok, East Sikkim (Fig. 5b).
case studies of Siliguri are considered as an exceptional one which The experience regarding masonry walls with circular plan was
clearly indicates that building rules are not properly followed. In somewhat similar to those having rectangular plans. One such wall
fact, Siliguri is a municipal corporation at the foothills of the was observed while surveying the Siliguri Special Correctional
Eastern Himalayas with its own building rules framed by the local Home, which has a circular inner security wall of 300 m length.
law enforcing administrative machinery. The uppermost portion of the security wall, 2 m high and 0.25 m

Fig. 4. Pounding of RCC buildings during 2011 Sikkim Earthquake; (a, b) multi-storeyed RCC buildings used as hotels/residences in Gangtok, East Sikkim; (c) RCC buildings
pounding at Siliguri in Darjeeling, West Bengal.

Fig. 5. Out-of-plane collapse of masonry walls during 2011 Sikkim Earthquake; (a)Mani Lhakhang Prayer Hall of stone masonry at Rongyek near Sikkim State Jail, East Sikkim;
(b) ground floor of Tashling Secretariat building at Gangtok, East Sikkim.
 S.C. Dutta et al. / Soil Dynamics and Earthquake Engineering 75 (2015) 121–129 125

thick, was added above the thicker lower portion in 1997. The The load bearing stone masonry walls and columns of the
lower portion was constructed in 1962. The 2011 Sikkim Earth- Buddhist monasteries have also suffered severe structural and
quake not only caused continuous peripheral crack at the junction infill cracks during this Earthquake (Fig. 8). Another typical feature
of the older and newer portions of the 300 m long wall (Fig. 6a), observed is that the corners of door–window openings in infill
but also caused out-of-plane failures of the upper thinner portion walls were found as major sources of shear cracks. The stress
of the wall at its northern and southern portions which fell in the concentration at the corner of the openings along with reduction
line of the earthquake ground motion. Fig. 6b shows rebuilt upper of stiffness of the walls at such openings may be cause of
portion of the security wall at its southern position. The 114 km generation of such cracks (Fig. 9). Cross bracings at windows
distance between Gangtok and Siliguri signifies the devastating may help to arrest such cracks.
impact of the 2011 Sikkim Earthquake, as well as the transitivity of
the seismic waves and increases concern about Sikkim and its 2.5. Plastic hinge formation at column capitals in soft ground storey
adjoining areas in case of future seismicity in the region.
Formation of plastic hinges at the column capitals in soft
ground storey was observed as one of the typical features of any
2.4. Generation of structural cracks soft storey or partially soft storey building during the 2011 Sikkim
Earthquake. Here, the term ‘partially soft storey’ is referred to a
The structural elements of a building suffering from earthquake building where a portion of its ground floor has columns inte-
undergo tension, compression and resultant shear. The concrete at grated with walls and the remaining portion has isolated columns.
the bottom portion of RCC beams are generally found to experi- When the forces thus generated at the beam–column junctions
ence cracks during earthquakes because of it being weak in become more than the ultimate strength, plastic hinges are
tension.Fig. 7a illustrates one such typical example of RCC beam formed at the column capitals. Fig. 10a and b illustrate examples
failure after the 2011 Sikkim Earthquake in the Working Women's in buildings with full soft storey at ground floor, while Fig. 10c–f
Hostel situated at Deorali in East Sikkim. Again, under impact of are examples of partially soft storey ones.
main Earthquake and its repeated aftershocks, vertical surfaces of
different RCC columns undergone bending, which generated
cracks on these surfaces. Severity of the impact of such lateral 3. Experience of a few undamaged buildings
shocks generated by the 2011 Sikkim Earthquake can be under-
stood from Fig. 7b where one finds deep cracks exposing the An important observation during the 2011 Sikkim Earthquake
reinforcements of a RCC column in the Women's Polytechnic was that some of the surveyed buildings did not suffer any damage
Siliguri situated at Dabgram Colony, Siliguri of the Darjeeling though those at their vicinity had suffered much. The examples
district of West Bengal. This indicates formation of column hinge included both engineered as well as non-engineered ones. In this
at the beam column junction. section, a few such examples are discussed.

Rebuilt upper portion

of security wall at
Continuous peripheral its southern position
crack at the junction of
upper and lower portions

Fig. 6. Damaged inner security wall of the Siliguri Special Correctional Home, Siliguri in Darjeeling district of West Bengal.

Fig. 7. Cracks in structural components of RCC buildings due to 2011 Sikkim Earthquake; (a) damaged RCC beams at Working Women's Hostel in Deorali, East Sikkim;
(b) damaged column at Women's Polytechnic Siliguri, Dabgram Colony in Darjeeling district of West Bengal.
126 S.C. Dutta et al. / Soil Dynamics and Earthquake Engineering 75 (2015) 121–129

Fig. 8. Damaged Buddhist monasteries due to 2011 Sikkim Earthquake; (a) vertical shear cracks in the load bearing stone masonry of Lingtem monastery at Middle Dzongu,
North Sikkim; (b) fatal damage of stone masonry walls of Ringhim monastery at Mangan, North Sikkim; (c) vertical shear cracks in a column of Tashiding monastery at
Tashiding, West Sikkim; (d) damaged infill walls of Ging monastery at Darjeeling, West Bengal.

Fig. 9. Shear cracks generating at the door–window openings of infill walls due to 2011 Sikkim Earthquake; (a) Siliguri Special Correctional Home, Siliguri, Darjeeling district,
West Bengal; (b) Class III Quarters at Jalipool, Gangtok, East Sikkim.

It was illustrated through Fig. 3b that how the 2011 Sikkim (Fig. 12a). However, sometimes RCC structures having traditional
Earthquake damaged the three-storied RCC building of the Depart- timber roofing are also found to have withstood the impact of the
ment of Treasury, Government of West Bengal, situated in the SDO 2011 Sikkim Earthquake (Fig. 12b). The reason behind better
office compound of Kalimpong because of considerable subsidence performance of such structures may be attributed to the ductile
of its rear side, built on filled-up land. However, it was interesting nature of bamboo and timber, which has more shock absorbing
to observe that its neighbouring two-storied RCC building of the capacity.
Department of Food and Supply, did not suffer any damage It is learnt that the Enchey Gompa, one of the most important
(Fig. 11). The probable reason, for this much older government monasteries of the Nyingma order of the Vajrayana Buddhism,
building remaining undamaged, may be attributed to the fact that after getting severely damaged due to the impact of the 2006
the land consists of firm stable ground having sound bearing Sikkim Earthquake (Fig. 13a), was retrofitted with FRP sheets. It
capacity on which it is built and also to the fact that quality of was observed that the portions thus retrofitted did not suffer any
material, workmanship and technical supervision have all wor- damage after the 2011 Sikkim Earthquake (Fig. 13b). However,
sened over the years, especially for government projects. Another those portions which were not retrofitted, like its attic, are
non-engineered single-storied tea shop situated just in front of damaged (Fig.13c).
these two RCC buildings, made of cheap timber, did show no sign
of any damage (Fig. 11).
It may be mentioned here that the authors came across many 4. Lessons learnt from 2011 Sikkim Earthquake
other undamaged structures situated in the vicinity of damaged
buildings. Majority of such structures are non-engineered ones The damages of the structures in this earthquake exhibited two
made in combination of locally available timber and bamboo aspects. Firstly, there are some well-known technical aspects
 S.C. Dutta et al. / Soil Dynamics and Earthquake Engineering 75 (2015) 121–129 127

Fig.10. Hinge formation in column capitals at soft storey during 2011 Sikkim Earthquake; (a) Class-I Govt. Quarter at Nam Nang, E. Sikkim; (b) Fire Station at Jorethang, S.
Sikkim; (c) Kunzang Choling monastery at Shipgyer, N. Sikkim; (d) Police Head Quarter building, E. Sikkim; (e) Tashling Secretariat building, E. Sikkim; (f) damaged capital of
a column supporting pavilion sheltering Bhanu Bhakta statue at Nepali Research Centre, Gyalshing, W. Sikkim.
128 S.C. Dutta et al. / Soil Dynamics and Earthquake Engineering 75 (2015) 121–129

which are not being practiced. Engineers, architects, builders and provided in windows and provisions of lintels may be ensured at
even masons, all those are related to building industry have to the top of the doors to stop crack propagation from door/window
come together and make some techno-legal guidelines for imple- corners. Pounding of the buildings can be avoided through provi-
mentation. Some of the prominent issues exhibited through sions of minimum distance worked based on heights of two
damage survey are presented in the following paragraph. On the adjacent buildings. In the hilly region, near the edge of the stepped
other hand, there are some issues where research should be ground, slope failure has been noticed. These have resulted in
carried out to find out economically viable means of strengthening subsidence of the part of the building at the edge caused due to
of non-engineered structures which are mostly used by people of landslide of the part of the ground. Thus before constructing
lower economic bracket in such hilly areas. Mention of them is building, in such cases, ground improvement aiming to arrive at
also made separately in the following paragraphs. uniform bearing capacity over the entire area and restricting the
For reinforced concrete structures, soft or open ground storey is slope movement on which the structure is to be build should
a known source of vulnerability. This has been exhibited in this be made.
earthquake. Immediate retrofitting measures through provisions However, the speciality of this reconnaissance based damage
of bracings or strong beams at lintel levels may be adopted for survey lies in the fact that the damage patterns observed in 2011
increasing safety of such building. This may arrest the problem of Sikkim Earthquake of moderate magnitude and damages observed
plastic hinging at column ends. Further, bracing lintels may be in developed countries, such as, USA, Japan, China etc. due to
earthquake are of different nature. For instance, in 2011 Tohoku
earthquake, Japan struck with an earthquake magnitude of
Damaged new RCC building of 8.1 causing a considerable damage of lifeline facilities and struc-
Dept. of Treasury
tures. In fact, the reason for most of the damages of structures may
be due to high velocity sea water wave force originated by
Tsunami, while, the structures designed considering seismic codes
performed well in such strong earthquake. A reasonably accurate
design properly accounting the earthquake codes is followed in
developed countries to design the structures which help to
prevent the failures as observed in 2011 Sikkim Earthquake.
Undamaged non- Undamaged old RCC building In contrary, the damages observed in hilly region of Sikkim
engineered tea shop of Dept. of Food & Supply mostly for the non-engineered RCC and masonry structures which
Fig. 11. Undamaged engineered and non-engineered buildings in the SDO office are used as shelter by the lower economic bracket people in such
compound at Kalimpong in Darjeeling district of West Bengal. developing countries. Hence, the comparison of damages may not

Fig. 12. Few structures remaining undamaged after 2012 Sikkim Earthquake in the vicinity of damaged structures; (a) an undamaged non-engineered single-storied building
in the vicinity of the damaged Mani Lhakhang Prayer Hall at Rongyek near Sikkim State Jail, East Sikkim; (b)an undamaged RCC building with traditional timber roofing
behind the damaged Tashling Secretariat building at Gangtok, East Sikkim.

Fig. 13. Comparison of performance of Enchey monastery, E. Sikkim, prior to and after seismic retrofitting; (a) cracks in the outer masonry walls after 2006 Sikkim
Earthquake; (b) retrofitted masonry walls remain undamaged after 2011 Sikkim Earthquake; (c) non-retrofitted attic damaged after the 2012 Sikkim Earthquake.
 S.C. Dutta et al. / Soil Dynamics and Earthquake Engineering 75 (2015) 121–129 129

be relevant. Therefore, the collation of different types of damages is an attempt to explain why damages and casualties occur in
caused due to 2011 Sikkim Earthquake helps to reach a conclusion developing countries even in low magnitude earthquakes, despite
that what kind of small retrofitting measures may provide ade- considerable progress in research and development in the realm of
quate resistance for structures to survive during low to moderate earthquake engineering. Thus, this paper may be useful to design
range earthquake in such developing countries. engineers, architects, builders and other stake holders in building
industry.

5. Summary and concluding remarks

Acknowledgements
Masonry structures are found to be a usual victim of earth-
quake because of out-of-plane collapse of walls. However, such
The authors acknowledge support of the Indian Institute of
out-of-plane failure can be avoided by strengthening the joints
Technology Bhubaneswar provided from its non-planned fund in
and enforcing the joints and enforcing the integrated box type
sponsoring the damage survey. They would further like to thank
behaviour of structures through low cost means as people belong-
Ar. S. D.Bhutia, Additional Chief Architect, Building and Housing
ing to middle to low class economic bracket. Present research
Department, Government of Sikkim for logistic support without
group is working on this issue by use of L-shaped bar, or binding
which the technical visit could not be properly completed.
the masonry by polypropylene packaging bands.
However, wooden and bamboo made structures with light
weight roofing have survived the earthquakes. Hence, a mission References
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