This document summarizes information about the 2015 Nepal earthquake. It provides details on the earthquake's magnitude, location, damage and casualties. It discusses the earthquake's economic and infrastructure impacts, as well as response and reconstruction efforts. Challenges included weak governance, infrastructure and preparedness. Recommendations focus on improving disaster risk reduction protocols, building standards, education and political stability.

1. NEPAL EARTHQUAKE 2015
Prepared By: Sudip Pandey & Usha Kiran Rokaya
M.Sc. In Public Health and Disaster Engineering
School of Engineering
Pokhara University

2. Outline of presentation
 Earthquake history in Nepal
 About Gorkha earthquake
 Causes of earthquake
 Economic impact
 Impact on infrastructure
 Impact on natural resources
 Response during earthquake
 Reconstruction
 National role for disaster management
 Conclusion
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3. Earthquake history in Nepal
 Nepal is the 11th most earthquake-prone country in the world.
 The first recorded earthquake in history of Nepal took place on June 7, 1255 AD.
 The magnitude of the earthquake is said to be around 7.7 in Richter scale.
 One third of the total population of Kathmandu were killed including Abahya
Malla.
 In 1408 A.D, 1681 A.D. and 1810 A.D. massive earthquake struck Nepal.
 In 1833 A. D. another earthquake devastated Kathmandu valley. Its magnitude
was reported to be of Mb=7.8. The event was located at 50 km North – North East
of Kathmandu.
 In 1934 A. D. 8 magnitude earthquake occurred in the territory of Nepal with
casualties of more than 16000 people.
 1988AD Udayapur Earthquake, 721 deaths, 6553 people injured, 64174 private
buildings, 468 public houses, 790 government buildings damaged, 1566 live
stocks, 22 districts of eastern Nepal affected.
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Nepal earthquake 2015
 Date: 25 April 2015
 Origin time: 11:56:26 NST
 Magnitude: 7.8 Mw
 Hypocenter: 8.2 Km
 Epicenter: Barak village,
Gorkha District
 Nearly 9000 people died
 Nearabout 22000 injured
 The Earthquake triggered an avalanche on Mount Everest that killed 21 members.
another huge avalanche in the Langtang valley where 250 people missing.
 Property loss- approximately USD 8 million
 600,000 people internally displaced

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Major Aftershock
 Date: 12 May 2015
 Origin time: 12:50 pm
 Magnitude: 7.3 Mw
 Hypocenter: 18.5 Km
 Epicenter: Border of Dolakha and Sindualchowk
 The earthquake occurred at the same fault as the larger magnitude.
 Next one is 6.3 Mw, Its epicenter in Ramechhap
 218 dead & 3,500+ injured
 Affected country : Nepal, India, Bangledesh, China
 Thirty-five districts in Nepal are reported to be affected by the earthquake, the
most affected 14 districts of which include Dhading, Gorkha, Rasuwa,
Sindhupalchowk, Kavre, Nuwakot, Dolakha, Kathmandu, Lalitpur, Bhaktapur, and
Ramechhap.

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Causes of earthquake
 This earthquake occurred as the result of thrust faulting between the sub ducting
Indian Plate and the overriding Eurasian Plate to the north.
 At the location of this earthquake the Indian Plate is converging with Eurasia at a
rate of 45 mm/yr towards the north-northeast, driving the uplift of the Himalayas
and the Tibetan Plateau.
Fig: Convergent boundary

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Economic impact
 Impact on GDP growth- The earthquake lowered GDP
growth by over 1.5 percentage points from an estimate of
4.6% in a no earthquake scenario in fiscal year 2015.
 Adverse effect on services sector wholesale and retail trade,
tourism(including air transport, and hotel and restaurant
businesses), and education sub-sectors were the most
affected.
 Impact on Per Capita Income, poverty-
 The income shock from the earthquake pushed an
additional 700,000-982,000 people below the poverty line.
 Multidimensional poverty due to affected water and
sanitation services, disruption of schools and health
services, damaged local infrastructure such as roads,
bridges, health posts, and schools for access to labor and
commodity markets, and for accumulation of human capital
(especially those of children)

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Impact on infrastructure
 Government buildings : 4,231 including partially & fully damaged
 Private houses : 769,907 including partially & fully damaged
 1000 health facilities were destroyed
 7000 schools were destroyed
Source: Compiled by author based on Central Bureau of Statistics, 2015, Nepal

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Impact on heritage sites
 Several temples on Kathmandu Durbar Square.
 Dharahara tower, built in 1832; the collapse of the latter structure killed at least
180 people
 Manakamana Temple in Gorkha.
 The northern side of Janaki Mandir in Janakpur was reported to have been
damaged.
 Several temples, including Kasthamandap, Panchtale temple, the top levels of the
nine-story Basantapur Durbar.
 Patan darbarsquare.
 Bhaktapur darbarsquare.
 Taleju Bhawani Temple partially collapsed.

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12. Impact on natural resources
 Deforestation
 Water quality & quantity decrease
 Water sources drought
 Ozone layer depletion due to green house gases
 Reduce ground water
 Concentration of DO decreased in the areas affected by the Earthquake.
Canterbury Earthquake, New Zealand (Potter et.al.2015).
 Glacier lake outburst.
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Other impacts
 Social impact
 Health and sanitation
 Mal nutrition
 Stunting

14. Factor for casualties and human loss
 In 2014, Chile was hit by 3 earthquakes of more than 8 magnitude but only 11
deaths, whereas in Nepal the magnitude was similar but so many fatalities and the
reason for this is:
 In 2014, Chile was hit by 3 earthquakes of more than 8 magnitude but only 11
deaths, whereas in Nepal the magnitude was similar but so many fatalities and the
reason for this is.
 Big and small aftershocks which continued for more than a month, 2nd earthquake
was because of the aftershock.
 Landslides and floods caused by earthquake, blocked the transportation to rural
areas, people died and got disabled, without assistance and help.
 No prior notification.
 Low construction standards, most houses and buildings in rural areas not
seismically designed and constructed, people died and injured crushed in the
collapsed buildings and bridges.
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Cont.….
 Less prepared government, crowed and unplanned buildings, unstable political
system, unevenly distributed geographical conditions, and weak surveillance
system.

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Response during earthquake
 Local people are the first responder.
 Nepal Army, APF and Nepal police are mobilized for the rescue.
 Different country’s expert were involved for search and rescue. Japan, China, The
UK, India etc.
 Nepal and International Red Cross were actively involved for treatment of injured
people. Providing 1,500 volunteers and 300 staff.

17. Cont.….
 The British organization, Search and Rescue Assistance in Disasters (SARAID)
has sent a team of 14 experts with 1.5 tones of specialist equipment.
 Ham Radio used for communication.
 The British organization, Search and Rescue Assistance in Disasters (SARAID)
has sent a team of 14 experts with 1.5 tones of specialist equipment.
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Long term response
 The Asian Development Bank (ADB) $3 million grant for immediate relief and $
200 million for the first phase of rehabilitation.
 Many countries donated aid. £73 million was donated by the UK (£23 million by
the government and £50 million by the public). In addition to this, the UK
provided 30 tones of humanitarian aid and eight tones of equipment.

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Reconstruction
 The National Reconstruction Authority was then established again on 25
December 2015.
 Eight months after the devastating earthquake in Nepal.
 Objectives of the NRA are:
 To reconstruct, retrofit and restore partially- and completely-damaged residential,
community and government buildings and heritage sites, to make them disaster-
resistant using local technologies as needed.
 To reconstruct (restore) damaged cities and ancient villages to their original form.
 To build resilience among people and communities at risk in the earthquake
affected districts.
 To develop new opportunities by revitalizing the productive sector for economic
opportunities and livelihoods.
 To study and research the science of earthquakes, their impact including damages
and effects, and post-earthquake recovery, including reconstruction, resettlement,
rehabilitation and disaster risk reduction
 To resettle the affected communities by identifying appropriate sites.

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Cont.…
 507623 private houses were constructed, 710268 houses are under construction.

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Challenges for reconstruction
 Absence of local government at initial phase, weak governance.
 Weak infrastructures.
 Lack of preparedness.
 Knowledge gap and manpower shortage.

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National role for disaster management
 Disaster Management in Nepal’s Constitution, 2015
 Enactment of Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Act, 2017
 Endorsement of Disaster Risk Reduction National Policy 2018 and Disaster
Risk Reduction National Strategic Action Plan (2018-2030)
 Local Government Operation (LGO) Act, 2017
 National Building Code (NBC)
 National Disaster Response Framework (NDRF)

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Gaps in policy program and practice
 More emphasis has been given towards the disaster response and relief rather than
complete approaches including planning, preparedness and recovery.
 Lack of awareness on different hazards and its consequences.
 There is no focus on inclusive DRR.
 Lacks of capacities in mobilizing international humanitarian support at the real
time of emergencies.

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Conclusion
 Based on the geological and seismic history, Nepal is always at the risk of
earthquake a
 landslides and flood are other natural disasters which frequently occur in Nepal
causing physical and mental effect
 The shallow and powerful earthquake with longer ground motions, continuous and
numerous aftershocks, geographical structure, weak surveillance system, no prior
notification, unstructured buildings, lack of preparedness, unorganized and
uncoordinated response system, unstable political system and poverty were the
direct and indirect factors causing those massive fatalities in Nepal.
 Well preparedness is most to cope with further disasters.

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Recommendation
 Disaster risk reduction protocol needs to be implemented from urban to rural
areas.
 Building evacuation procedure, building inspection and tagging, and construction
with retrofitting (low-cost solutions) need to be implemented.
 Building codes specific to hospitals and health facilities need to be developed and
enforced.
 Enacting legislation for safety from hazards.
 Improving quality of education on disaster mitigation and preparedness.
 Stable political system

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References
 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/April_2015_Nepal_earthquake
 Potter, et.al (2015). An overview of the impacts of the 2010-2011 Canterbury
earthquakes. International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction, 14, 6-14.
 Sharma, K., KC, A. and Pokharel, B. (2017): Challenges for reconstruction after
Mw 7.8 Gorkha earthquake: a study on devastated area of Nepal, International
Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction (submitted).

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