Earthquake

Earthquakes are a real and potential danger to the State of Nagaland. The seven north-eastern states including Nagaland are considered by seismologists as the sixth major earthquake-prone belt in the world. Nagaland lies in seismic zone V and hence falls under a very high damage risk zone. The natural tectonic setting makes Nagaland prone to earthquakes resulting in loss of life and property. A large number of moderate to large magnitude earthquakes have occurred within the State boundaries as well as within a range of 100 km around it. Altogether twelve major earthquakes have occurred in the region in the last 100 years, of which the epicentre of the 1950 Great Earthquake was located only 7 km towards the north of Mon, a district headquarter located about 200 km north of the capital town of Kohima. It was the sixth largest earthquake of the 20th century. The shock lasted 8 minutes, causing 1,500 deaths and destruction of 2,000 houses and other structures while rendering rail and road connectivity useless. The energy of the earthquake matched that of 100,000 atomic bombs and churned up nearly 10,000 sq miles of earth. One of the most notable earthquakes which had its impact in Nagaland was the Great Shillong Earthquake on 12th June 1897, which measured 8.7 on the Richter scale and left over 1,600 people dead.

Landslide

Landslide is a major disaster that keeps affecting Nagaland, especially in monsoon, when heavy downpour is experienced all over Nagaland.

Much of the state is very hilly, comprising steep slopes and high relief. Nagaland is predominantly made up of shales and sandstones in various combinations. Most of the rocks, particularly the shales, are sheared, fractured, crumpled and weathered to various extents. They are normally saturated with water, which leads to the build-up of high pore-water pressure, thereby causing the loss of shearing strength and collapse of the soil structure. Repeated thrusting and faulting have further weakened the rocks. Such sandstone areas are known for rock falls and debris slides. Properties worth lakhs and crores of rupees have been carried away by these landslides.

Some of the major landslide disasters that Nagaland has faced: in August 2001, the Dimapur area experienced a cloud burst which lasted almost an hour, giving rise to numerous landslides, particularly in the Paglapahar region. In a stretch of just 4 km on National Highway 39, seven major slides occurred which brought traffic to a standstill; a Tata Sumo was crushed, killing 3 people and injuring others.

The most tragic landslide that affected Nagaland in the past was the 26th May 2005 landslide in Mokokchung town. In this pre-dawn landslide, 14 people were buried alive, many more were injured, and damage to property was extensive.

On 17th October 2007, about 150 metres of National Highway 39 near Kiruphema went down almost 400 metres, resulting in the complete blockade of the highway for 2 days.

During July 2018, major road lifelines were cut off by massive landslides in Kohima when NH-29, also connecting Manipur, was cut off, putting the survival of the two states at stake. A school in Kohima was also affected by massive sinking of land which led to the evacuation and shifting of the primary campus, located 2 km away. Incessant rains also triggered massive landslides at Pezielietsie Colony in Kohima, damaging at least 42 houses and affecting more than 40 families.

The Sanuoru–Secretariat road, on 30th July 2018, was affected when half of the black-topped road just below the working women's hostel sank some 3 ft down; the hostel was evacuated and relocated. Siekhazou–BSF Camp was also completely cut off on 30th July 2018, where 1 church and 5 houses were damaged by landslide and 4 houses were evacuated.

In July 2018, the road was cut off at Sidzu river in Phek district due to a major landslide upstream which formed an artificial dam and disrupted the downstream, including roads and paddy fields, because of the uncontrolled release of water from the dam. Major landslides also occurred on the Chozuba-to-Kohima road via Khusoh, about 13 km from Chozuba town, totally cutting off the road.

NH-39 was snapped by a deep and wide landslide at the KMC dumping area. The once-sinking zone has now become a valley, stretching from above the road to the river below in a stretch of about a kilometre. NH-39, afflicted with numerous other landslides, is only a sample — almost all the roads connecting different areas of Nagaland are reported to be under peril.

Flood

Flood affects all the low-lying areas of Nagaland bordering Assam. In 2005, the township of Tuli and adjoining areas were very badly affected by flood, leaving the area marooned for many days.

The different colonies of Dimapur town remained submerged during 11th–24th September 2008, including Dobhinalla, Super Market, Nagarjan, Burma Camp, Walford, Sachu Colony, Nagagaon, Khermahal, Netaji Colony, Naharbari and the airport areas. Examinations underway at the time were badly affected.

Due to incessant rain recorded from 1st to 3rd August 2018 (492 mm rainfall), floods occurred in parts of Dimapur, disrupting normal activities and causing one casualty at Netaji Colony. Heavy rains eroded soil, destroying properties and houses. A fire also broke out at a city kart shop near Dhobinala around 9 pm on 1st August due to a circuit fault caused by the flood. Cultivated areas and many roads within Dimapur city and surrounding areas were severely damaged.

Fire

Fire disaster is the most common disaster in Nagaland. During the Indo-Naga conflict, many villages were razed to the ground. On 23rd April 2008, the biggest fire disaster in memory affected Nagarjan Colony in Dimapur — two lives were lost and 310 houses were burned to ashes, with property worth more than 1 crore destroyed.

On 29th January 2008, 100 houses along with 8 garages were burned to ashes on Golaghat Road, with property worth 1 crore charred down.

On 28th April 2009, 30 houses were burned in K. Sachu Colony, Ward 14, Dimapur. Many families were rendered homeless and property worth Rs. 31,00,000 was burned.

On 6th February 2009, 52 houses were razed by fire in Naharbari Colony, with property worth 20 lakhs burned.

During 2nd April 2019, fire broke out in Selouphe Colony, Dimapur, and two children's lives were lost. On the night of 27th May 2019, around 15 houses were completely razed in a fire in Kuda village, Dimapur, starting around 10 pm at Kuda B Khel. While there was no report of human casualty, property estimated at around Rs. 5 lakhs was destroyed, and affected families could not save any personal belongings, including their children's school books.

Windstorm / Hailstorm / Heavy Rainfall

Windstorm/hailstorm is a major disaster that keeps affecting Nagaland, especially during the monsoon. A total of 3,759 houses were damaged during 2016 across different parts of Nagaland. In Mokokchung district, hailstorm/windstorm incidents damaged 1,382 houses (283 completely, 280 severely, and 746 partially damaged kutcha houses). In Longleng district, hailstorm incidents affected 34 villages across five circles — Yachem, Sakshi, Yongnyah, Sadar and Longleng — leaving 342 partially damaged, 245 severely damaged and 56 fully damaged houses. In Wokha district, 449 houses were damaged, with further damage to infrastructure and plantations. In Kohima, heavy rainfall accompanied by strong winds damaged six houses in Chiechema and Phezha, besides damaging electrical posts and power lines, uprooting trees along NH-2, and blowing away the rooftops of two houses.

During July 2018, Kiphire district became inaccessible to the rest of the state after all roads leading to the district were completely cut off at multiple locations owing to incessant rains. Kiphire had food stock to last only a couple of days, and rationing was imposed for both food and petroleum products. The Home Department tied up with the Central Ministry of Home Affairs for airlifting essential commodities to the cut-off areas.

Drought

It has been passed down by our ancestors that droughts have occurred in Nagaland in the past; however, there are no documents or records to prove them. 2009 was the first year that Nagaland faced a drought-like situation, in three districts of the state — Peren, Dimapur and Mon. Jalukie valley in Peren district, known as the "Rice bowl of Nagaland", was very badly affected by drought that year, with huge areas of paddy cultivable land left fallow because of a shortage of water.