Eastern-Nepal Earthquake, 1988

The earthquake (1988 Eastern-Nepal Earthquake) took place in the Nepal-India border region at latitude 26.7550N, longitude 86.6160E in the early morning (4:39 Indian ; 4:54 Nepalese time) of 21 August 1988 (23:09:10.3, 20 August Greenwich time). This earthquake experienced in the southeastern zone of Nepal close to the border of the State of Bihar, India registered 6.6 on the Richter Scale according to the U.S. Geological Survey. Its focal depth was assumed to be 57 km.

As the magnitude of this earthquake was less than 7 on the Richter scale, most damage took place in areas around the reported epicentral region in the northern part of Bihar State, India close to the border with Nepal and in the southeastern zone of Nepal along the Himalaya Mountains close to the border with India. Damage to the structural systems of buildings was limited to nonengineered types of rural housing constructed of clay bricks or of stones cemented with mud mortar, the seismic qualities of which are judged to be poor. The number of engineered buildings is very limited in these areas, but we found no major structural damage done to engineered buildings made of reinforced concrete with or without filled-in brick masonry walls.
  
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