ABSTRACT
Uttarkashi, a large but sparsely populated district in the hills of (the then) Uttar Pradesh was hit by an earthquake of medium intensity (6.1 on Richter scale) in the early hours of 20 October 1991. Although the epicentre was at Agoda, the area in and around Bhatwari (26 km from Uttarkashi, en-route to Gangotri) suffered the maximum damage. More than 650 lives were lost, the houses of more than 30,000 families were either badly damaged or completely destroyed, and in the worst affected areas community assets like irrigation channels, water sources and school buildings suffered widespread damage.
