March 21, 1954 Earthquake: Calcutta, Cuttack, Bhagalpur, Myanmar, India
A magnitude 7.4 earthquake struck Calcutta, Cuttack, Bhagalpur, Myanmar, India on March 21, 1954 at 23:42:11 UTC, 180 km below the surface.
Map
Where it struck, with the other significant earthquakes within 200 km. Circles are sized and colored by magnitude; select one for its page.
The earthquake
- Date
- March 21, 1954
- Time
- 23:42:11 UTC
- Place
- Calcutta, Cuttack, Bhagalpur, Myanmar, India
- Magnitude
- 7.4 (Ms)
- Focal depth
- 180 km (112 mi)
- Tsunami
- None recorded
- Epicenter
- 24.500° N, 95.300° E
- Country
- Myanmar
The toll
- Damage
- Moderate (about $1 to $5 million)
Where the literature gives no number, NCEI records a description on a scale of 1 to 4, printed here in its words. Damage is in millions of US dollars of the year of the event, not adjusted for inflation.
What the record says
NCEI’s account, from the sources it cites.
March 21, 1954, 23:42:11, 24.5 N, 95.3 E, depth 180 km, magnitude 7.4. (reference #88)
March 21, 1954, 23:42;17 UTC, 24.2N, 95.1E. Very violent shock but fortunately with focus of intermediate depth, felt strongly at Calcutta, Cuttack (Orissa), Bhagalpur (Bihar), Shillong and Gauhati (Assam), buildings designed to stand up to earthquakes were damaged. This was one of the most violent earthquakes felt in India since 1898, the radius of the macroselsmic area probably exceeded 1,000 km (Tandon and Mukher-~ee, 1956). (reference #1185)
Minor damage at Shillong (reference #45)
Other significant earthquakes nearby
Within 200 km, the deadliest first.
- November 11, 2012, Shwebo, Myanmar
- January 3, 2016, Impahl, India
- August 6, 1988, Gauhati, Sibsagar, Imphal, Myanmar (Burma), India
- April 13, 2016, Assam, Bangladesh, India, Myanmar
- February 4, 2011, Monywa, Myanmar
- November 21, 2011, Assam, India, Myanmar
- August 30, 2009, Sibsagar, Myanmar (Burma), India
- September 12, 1946, Myanmar
- September 12, 1946, Myanmar
- January 5, 1991, Thabeikkyin, Mandalay, Myanmar
- August 14, 1932, Assam, Myanmar, India
- January 28, 1931, Kamaing, Myanmar
- January 27, 1931, Kachin, Myanmar
More
Significant earthquakes of 1954The 1900sEvery quake the USGS located in 1954Recent earthquakes near hereThis day in weather history
Sources
Significant earthquakes from NOAA’s National Centers for Environmental Information, Global Historical Hazard Database, cited as NCEI/WDS, doi:10.7289/V5PN93H7. Public domain. Read 2026-09-24. NCEI earthquake 4042.