Earthquake of Magnitude 4.4 Hits Kachchh Region of Gujarat

An

earthquake of magnitude 4.4 struck Kachchh district in Gujarat early on Friday, December 26, according to official data. The tremor occurred at 4:30 am IST, with its epicentre located at latitude 23.65°N and longitude 70.23°E, at a depth of 10 km. There were no immediate reports of casualties or damage. "EQ of M: 4.4, On: 26/12/2025 04:30:02 IST, Lat: 23.65 N, Long: 70.23 E, Depth: 10 Km, Location: Kachchh, Gujarat," the National Center for Seismology (NCS) posted on X.

The state has suffered nine major earthquakes in the past 200 years, as per information provided by the Gujarat State Disaster Management Authority (GSDMA).The 2001 Kutch earthquake was the third largest and second most destructive earthquake in India over the last two centuries, it said.On January 26, 2001, Gujarat was struck by an earthquake of 6.9 magnitude with its epicentre near Bhachau in Kutch district which affected the entire state. Nearly 13,800 people were killed and another 1.67 lakh injured in the earthquake, according to GSDMA data.The Kachchh region is prone to earthquakes as it lies in a seismically active zone. According to a recent study published by TOI, multiple fault lines and deformations interact with each other beneath Gujarat. The study, ‘Complex nature of the crustal anisotropy in the western margin of the Indian subcontinent and its geodynamic implications', by Sowrav Saikia, Rakesh Prajapat, Sumer Chopra, Santosh Kumar, Vinay Kumar Dwivedi (ISR), and Vikas Kumar (ISR and Maharaj Agrasen University, Himachal Pradesh), was published in the latest issue of Elsevier's journal Tectonophysics, according to TOI. Saikia told TOI that the most striking result for the team was the nature of the Kutch region. "Geologically known as the Kutch rift basin, the region shows significantly higher levels of crustal deformation than the rest of Gujarat. Importantly, this deformation is strongly aligned with major active faults such as the Kutch Mainland Fault, South Wagad Fault, Allah Bund Fault, and Gedi Fault. These are the same fault systems responsible for past large earthquakes," he said.