[2] The earthquake affected many monasteries and buildings in the state and led to an extensive restoration work in the late 1970s and early 1980s in Himachal Pradesh.

However, the faulting in the NW Himalayas demonstrates west–east extension, which is at a fairly high angle to the trend of the main thrust structures and may be better explained as partly accommodating the eastward spreading of the Tibetan Plateau.

This is interpreted to be seismically active from the presence of thermal springs and gypsum deposits[6] and from studies of soft-sediment deformation structures thought to be seismites.

These seismites have been used to suggest eight earlier earthquakes of magnitude greater than 6 in the Sumdo area affecting these Late Pleistocene to Holocene sediments.

[3] Ground rupture was observed in the form of a series of small vertical faults, with downthrow to the west, offsetting part of National Highway 22 between Sumdo and Kaurik, with displacements up to 50 cm.

The best performing buildings were barrack type houses constructed from corrugated iron covering a timber frame, which generally showed little or no damage.

[6] Strong vertical motion during the earthquake led to excessive loads on the upper part of the supporting walls causing them to bulge outwards.

[6] One landslide dammed the Parachu river to a height of 60 metres (200 ft), forming a lake that caused flash flooding when it burst two months later.