Historical Event on 4/4/1905

More than 10,000 people are feared to have perished in an earthquake that hit the northeast Indian province of Lahore during the night. The town of Dharmsala was almost completely razed to the ground with the entire population rendered homeless and sleeping out in icy conditions. Five hundred Gurkha soldiers were buried alive when their stonebuilt barracks collapsed on them. The towns of Kangra and Palampur have also been leveled to the ground by the worst natural disaster measured at 8 on Ricter Scale. In Lahore, 70 Hindus were killed, Muslim inhabitants were parading in the streets, weeping and offering up prayers with ceremonial rites. Several British administrators and missionaries were known to have been killed or injured. At Simla, Lady Curzon, wife of the Viceroy, had a close escape from death when a chimney crashed into the room in which she was sleeping.