FOREWORD 



The Geological Survey of India's pioneering contributions to the Science 

 of Seismology are well known. Of these, R. D. Oldham's Memoir on the 

 Great Assam Earthquake of 12th June, 1897, which laid the foundations of 

 modern seismological studies, will remain for ever a classic contribution. 

 The subsequent Memoirs, on the Kangra Earthquake of the 4th April, 1905, 

 by Middlemiss and on the Bihar-Nepal Earthquake of 1934, by officers of the 

 G.S.I, and others, continued the fine tradition set by R. D. Oldham. These 

 excellent accounts of three of the large magnitude Indian earthquakes, 

 published by the G.S.I, respectively, in 1899, 1910 and 1939, had gone out 

 of print, several years ago. 



Although the Science of Seismology has made rapid strides in recent 

 years, the scientific workers throughout the World, who have been engaged 

 in the study of the causes and the prediction of earthquakes, needed 

 for their constant reference, the comprehensive accounts of past major 

 Indian earthquakes. In early 1980, the demand for trie above-cited 

 Memoirs on Indian earthquakes was voiced by Dr. Jai Krishna, President 

 of the International Association for Earthquake Engineering, when he had 

 requested that the G.S.I, may arrange to reprint and issue these three 

 classical Memoirs for the use of the scientific community all over the World. 

 The G.S.I, complied very willingly with this request 



I am very happy that all the three Memoirs, as reprinted now, will 

 once again be available to all those who are interested in the study of 

 earthquakes. The first Memoir to be reissued is the Volume 29 by R. D. 

 Oldham, dealing with the Great Assam Earthquake of 1897, and this will 

 be followed by the Volume 38 on the Kangra Earthquake of 1905 and the 

 Volume 73 on the Bihar-Nepal Earthquake of 1934. If these three reprinted 

 volumes of the classical Memoirs of G.S.I, further stimulate research on 

 earthquakes and promote advances in the Science of Seismology, I shall 

 consider the effort made by the G.S.I, to reprint these well-known Memoirs 

 to be amply rewarded. 



ItiL^z- 



Dated, Calcutta V. S. KRISHNASWAMY 



the 30th June, 1981 Director General 



