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地質学雑誌 Vol. 115, No. 6, 2009

Activity of Dauki Fault during the 1897 Ms 8.0 Great Assam earthquake confirmed by trench
investigation at Gabrakahri Village, Haluaghat, Mymensingh, Bangladesh
Michio Morino＊1†, A. S. M. Maksud Kamal ＊2, Dicky Muslim Ir. M. Sc.＊3,
Reshad Md. Ekram Ali ＊4, Mohammad Ashraful Kamal ＊4, and Fumio Kaneko＊1

Received March 2, 2009．Accepted April 27, 2009

＊1
OYO International Corporation, Rokubancho Kyodo Bldg. 2F, 6
Rokubancho, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo 102-0085, Japan
†
present adress: Internatonal Expert of United Nations Development
Programme
＊2
Comprehensive Disaster Management Programme, Ministry of Food and
Disaster Management, 92-93 Mohakhali C/A, Dhaka-1212, Bangladesh
＊3
Faculty of Geological Engineering, University of Padjadjaran, Jalan
Banda #40, 3rd Floor, Bandung 40115, West Java, Indonesia
＊4
Geological Survey of Bangladesh, 153 Pioneer Road, Segunbagicha,
Dhaka 1000, Bangladesh

Corresponding author; M. Morino, morino@oyointer.com

The 1897 Ms 8.0 Great Assam earthquake caused severe damage to

Assam region in India and Sylhet district in Bangladesh. Bilham and Englant
（2001）suggested that this earthquake was generated by a blind fault locat-
ed on the northern edge of Shillong Plateau（Fig. 1） . However, the geo-
morphic features for the active fault are clearer along the Dauki Fault locat-
ed on the southern edge of Shillong Plateau（Fig. 2） . We carried out trench
investigation across the Dauki Fault at Gabrakahri Village. As shown in Figs.
3 and 4, the fault displacing units G and H was identified near the bottom of
the trench. Furthermore units B to F, which cover units G and H with
unconformity, are warped between W3 and W6. On the east wall of the
trench, the sand dikes due to liquefaction reach the top of unit B and are
covered by unit A（Fig. 5） . The latest event of the Dauki Fault is inferred to
have occurred after the deposition of unit B and before the deposition of unit
A. It is evident that the Dauki Fault ruptured during the 1897 Great Assam
earthquake, since the time of unit C for 14C dating shows Cal AD 1700 to
1960. The penultimate event has occurred after the deposition of unit G and
before the deposition of unit F. According to the dating of units F and G, the
penultimate event was dated back to Cal AD 1500 to 1640. This work is a
Fig. 1.（↑）Dauki Fault on the southern edge of Shillong Plateau and
part of Earthquake and Tsunami preparedness component of the Compre- location of trench site at Gabrakahri Village. The topographic map is
hensive Disaster Management Programme（CDMP）of Government of made from SRTM data.
Bangladesh. Fig. 2.（↓）Back-tilting terrace surface inclined towards the north. The
trench was excavated on the southern edge of the terrace. The geomor-
Reference phic features such as warping scarp are not confirmed on the Alluvial
Bilham, R. and P. England, 2001, Plateau pop-up during the great 1897 Assam Plain. In Bangladesh, since most of the land is cultivated for rice fields,
earthquake. Nature, 410, 806-809. the geomorphic features of the paleo-earthquakes may have been modi-
fied except that some terraces were left the natural topography for resi-
dential spaces.

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Fig. 3. Photo of the west wall at Gabrakahri trench

site. Units A to D: medium to fine sand, units E
and F: alternation of silt and fine sand, unit G:
peaty clay, unit H: gravel comprising the terrace,
Sd: sand dikes due to liquefaction. Triangles rep-
resent the location of 14C dating sample. Units E
and F between W3 and W6 are inclined towards
the south with inclination of about 10 °. Units B to
D are also gently inclined towards the south, which
indicates the warping structure formed by the lat-
est event.

Fig. 4. Close-view of the part shown in Fig. 3 as a

broken rectangle where was excavated deeper.
Unit G is divided into subunits G1 and G2 which
are composed of alternation of silt and fine sand
and peaty clay respectively. A couple of small
faults displacing units G and H were identified
clearer, and unit G near the fault is steeply
inclined towards the south. Unit F dipping to the
south with inclination of 10°covers unit G with
unconformity.

Fig. 5. Sand dikes due to liquefaction on the east

wall of the trench. The sand dikes reach the top of
unit B and are covered by unit A.
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