An earthquake of magnitude Mw 7.6 (USGS) on 26 January 2001 left a trail of death and devastation in Gujarat, one of India's front-runners in industrial prosperity. The earthquake caused a heavy toll of about 20,000 dead, more than 60,000 injured, 200,000 people homeless, and more than U.S. $2 billion in losses. The epicenter of this earthquake (23.40°N, 70.3°E) was located about 10 km northeast of the town of Bachau in the Kutch district in the state of Gujarat. The focal depth was estimated to be 25 km (USGS). This earthquake was felt to Kashmir in the north, Kanyakumari in the south, and Nepal and Calcutta to the northeast. The most affected cities were Bachau, Bhuj, Anjar, Rapar, Gandhidham, and Kandla of the Kutch district. The distribution of earthquake intensity was sporadically high, at some places attaining a maximum of X on the MSK scale. Four aspects of macroseismic field observations made during a damage survey carried out in the first and second week of February 2001 are briefly addressed in the present paper. They are intensity mapping, ground fissures, damage to engineered structures, and local site effects. The general observations as reported by many people in the affected area are mainly sound heard before the earthquake and dizziness accompanying the earthquake shaking. Seaquake activity (a train of compressional waves refracted steeply upward from the sea bed) was reported by many fishermen aboard ships in the Sikka and Okha port regions. The anomalous behavior of animals was reported at many places, such as fish jumping up to 3 feet above the water surface in Pushkar Sarowar (lake), Rajasthan. Some of the observations, like those of the gushing of fresh water in areas where it is normally salty, increases of ground water levels, and dominant vertical strong ground motion, were …