April 2015 Nepal earthquake

This article is about the Nepal earthquake that took place on 25 April 2015. For the major aftershock on 12 May 2015, see May 2015 Nepal earthquake.

2015 Nepal earthquake
Damaged homes in Kathmandu after the April mainshock.
April 2015 Nepal earthquake is located in Nepal
April 2015 Nepal earthquake
Kathmandu
Kathmandu
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Epicentre of earthquake
UTC time2015-04-25 06:11:25
ISC event607208674
USGS-ANSSComCat
Local date25 April 2015; 9 years ago (2015-04-25)
Local time11:56:25 NST[1]
Duration50 seconds
Magnitude7.8 Mw[1]
8.1 Ms
Depth8.2 km (5.1 mi)[1]
Epicenter28°13′48″N 84°43′52″E / 28.230°N 84.731°E / 28.230; 84.731[1]
FaultMain Himalayan Thrust
TypeThrust[1]
Areas affected
Max. intensityMMI X (Extreme)[2][3]
Peak acceleration0.25 g[4]
Peak velocity108 cm/s[4]
Landslides21
Foreshocks7
Aftershocks7.3 Mw on 12 May at 12:50[5]
6.7 Mw on 26 April at 12:54[6]
459 aftershocks of 4 Mw and above as of 24 May 2016[7]
Casualties8,962 dead in Nepal,[8][9] 21,952 injured,[8] 3.5 million homeless[8]
Citations69

The April 2015 Nepal earthquake (also known as the Gorkha earthquake)[7][11] killed 8,962 people and injured 21,952 across the Nepal, India, China and Bangladesh. It occurred at on Saturday 25 April 2015, with a magnitude of 7.8Mw[1] or 8.1Ms[12] and a maximum Mercalli Intensity of X (Extreme). Its epicenter was east of Gorkha District at Barpak, Gorkha, roughly 85 km (53 mi) northwest of central Kathmandu, and its hypocenter was at a depth of approximately 8.2 km (5.1 mi).[1] It was the worst natural disaster to strike Nepal since the 1934 Nepal–India earthquake.[13][14][15] The ground motion recorded in Kathmandu, the capital of Nepal, was of low frequency, which, along with its occurrence at an hour when many people in rural areas were working outdoors, decreased the loss of human lives.[16]

The earthquake triggered an avalanche on Mount Everest, killing 22 people,[17] the deadliest incident on the mountain on record.[18] The earthquake triggered another huge avalanche in the Langtang valley, where 250 people were reported missing.[19]

Hundreds of thousands of Nepalese were made homeless with entire villages flattened[19][20][21] across many districts of the country. Centuries-old buildings were destroyed at UNESCO World Heritage Sites in the Kathmandu Valley, including some at the Kathmandu Durbar Square, the Patan Durbar Square, the Bhaktapur Durbar Square, the Changu Narayan Temple, the Boudhanath stupa, and the Swayambhunath stupa. Geophysicists and other experts had warned for decades that Nepal was vulnerable to a deadly earthquake, particularly because of its geology, urbanization, and architecture.[22][23] Dharahara, also called Bhimsen Tower, a nine-storey 61.88-metre (203.0 ft) tall tower, was destroyed. It was a part of the architecture of Kathmandu recognized by UNESCO.

Continued aftershocks occurred throughout Nepal at intervals of 15–20 minutes, with one shock reaching a magnitude of 6.7 on 26 April at NST.[6] The country also had a continued risk of landslides.[24]

A major aftershock occurred on 12 May 2015 at with a moment magnitude (Mw) of 7.3.[25] The epicenter was near the Chinese border between the capital of Kathmandu and Mount Everest.[26] More than 200 people were killed and over 2,500 were injured by this aftershock, and many were left homeless.[27]

  1. ^ a b c d e f g "M7.8 – 36 km E of Khudi, Nepal". United States Geological Survey.
  2. ^ Ömer Aydan; Resat Ulusay. "A quick report on the 2015 Ghorka, Nepal earthquake and its geo engineering aspects". CiteSeerX 10.1.1.733.9209.
  3. ^ Jean-Philippe Avouac; Ratna mani Gupta; Diego Melgar; Thakur Prasad Kandel (2015). "Slip pulse and resonance of Kathmandu basin during the 2015 Mw 7.8 Gorkha earthquake, Nepal imaged with geodesy" (PDF). Science. 349 (6252): 1091–1095. doi:10.1126/science.aac6383. PMID 26249228. S2CID 16661860.
  4. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference NEPAL-EQ-2015 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ "M6.6 – 44 km E of Lamjung, Nepal".
  6. ^ a b "M6.7 – 21 km SSE of Kodari, Nepal". United States Geological Survey.
  7. ^ a b "Aftershocks of Gorkha Earthquake". National Seismological Centre, Nepal.
  8. ^ a b c "Incident Report of Earthquake 2015". Nepal Disaster Risk Reduction Portal. drrportal.gov.np. Retrieved 28 May 2015.
  9. ^ "Nepal earthquake death toll rises to 8,413". The Times of India. 7 May 2015. Archived from the original on 9 May 2015. Retrieved 9 May 2015.
  10. ^ "Nepal Says Earthquake Rebuilding Cost to Exceed $10 Billion". Bloomberg News. 28 April 2015. Retrieved 22 May 2017.
  11. ^ Chidanand Rajghatta (26 April 2015). "Is this the 'Big Himalayan Quake' we feared?". The Times of India. Retrieved 26 April 2015.
  12. ^ 2015年4月25日尼泊尔8.1级地震情况通报 (in Chinese (China)). China Earthquake Networks Center. 25 April 2015. Archived from the original on 4 May 2015. Retrieved 28 April 2015.
  13. ^ Sugden, Joanna (26 April 2015). "What 1934 Told Nepal to Expect About the Next Big Quake". The Wall Street Journal.
  14. ^ "Timeline: Nepal 2015 to 1934, the worst quake disasters in the last 80 years". 27 April 2015. Retrieved 28 April 2015.
  15. ^ "Nepal earthquake: Eerie reminder of 1934 tragedy". 25 April 2015.
  16. ^ Parajuli, Rishi Ram; Kiyono, Junji (1 January 2015). "Ground Motion Characteristics of the 2015 Gorkha Earthquake, Survey of Damage to Stone Masonry Structures and Structural Field Tests". Frontiers in Built Environment. 1: 23. doi:10.3389/fbuil.2015.00023. hdl:2433/240972.
  17. ^ nytimes.com 2015-04-27 katmandu-nepal-fear-loss-and-devastation, The New York Times; accessed 28 April 2015.
  18. ^ "Trapped at 20,000 feet: Many Everest climbers await choppers as supplies run low". Fox News. Associated Press. 26 April 2015. Archived from the original on 26 April 2015. Retrieved 26 April 2015.
  19. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference Langtang was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  20. ^ Cite error: The named reference MontanaPublicRadio was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  21. ^ Cite error: The named reference Barpak was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  22. ^ "Experts had warned for decades that Nepal was vulnerable to a killer quake". The Washington Post. Retrieved 29 April 2015.
  23. ^ Colin Stark (26 April 2015). "Nepal earthquake: 'A tragedy waiting to happen' – CNN.com". CNN. Retrieved 29 April 2015.
  24. ^ "Earth Quake-hit Nepal at high risk of landslides in coming weeks". Free Press Journal.
  25. ^ "Earthquake Again in Nepal 12 May 2015". The Natural Disasters. Archived from the original on 5 May 2015.
  26. ^ "Nepal earthquake, magnitude 7.3, strikes near Everest". BBC News. 12 May 2015.
  27. ^ Manesh Shrestha (14 May 2015). "Death toll from this week's Nepal earthquake rises above 125". CNN. Retrieved 14 May 2015.