Nepal, situated at the convergence of the Eurasian and Indo-Australian tectonic plates, experienced its most devastating earthquake since 1934, causing significant destruction in the Kathmandu Valley. The quake's shallow depth contributed to its extreme destructiveness, resulting in hundreds of fatalities and extensive property damage across multiple countries. Lessons from previous earthquakes underscore the need for timely emergency responses, effective building engineering, and comprehensive disaster resilience policies to mitigate future risks.

2. NEPAL:
ONE OF THE GLOBAL
EARTHQUAKE DISASTER
LABORATORIES

3. NEPAL: COLLISION OF EURASIAN
AND INDO-AUSTRALIAN PLATES

4. NEPAL: A NATION OF 27.8
MILLION

5. LOCATION
• The quake's epicenter was 80
kilometers (50 miles) northwest of
Kathmandu, and it had a depth of
only 11 kilometers (7 miles), which
is considered shallow in geological
terms.

6. This earthquake, the worst quake
to hit Nepal (a poor South Asian
nation) since 1934,
collapsed buildings and houses,
leveled centuries-old temples and
triggered avalanches in the
Himalayas.

7. KATHMANDU, THE
CAPITAL, DEVASTATED
The Kathmandu Valley is densely
populated with nearly 2.5 million people,
and the quality of building construction is
often poor.

8. KATHMANDU SKYLINE

9. TECTONIC
DEFORMATION
EARTHQUAKE
TSUNAMI
GROUND
SHAKING
FAULT RUPTURE
FOUNDATION
FAILURE
SITE
AMPLIFICATION
LIQUEFACTION
LANDSLIDES
AFTERSHOCKS
SEICHE
DAMAGE/LOSS
DAMAGE/ LOSS
DAMAGE/ LOSS
DAMAGE/ LOSS
DAMAGE/ LOSS
DAMAGE/ LOSS
DAMAGE/ LOSS
DAMAGE/ LOSS
DAMAGE/ LOSS
DAMAGE/LOSS

10. SIZE, LOCATION, AND DEPTH
AFFECT DAMAGE
• The quake's hypocenter was only 11
kilometers (7 miles) --- The bigger,
shallower, and closer the quake is, the
more destructive it usually is.
• Witnesses said the trembling and
swaying of the earth went on for
several minutes.

11. INADEQUATE RESISTANCE TO
HORIZONTAL GROUND SHAKING
EARTHQUAKES
SOIL AMPLIFICATION
PERMANENT DISPLACEMENT
(SURFACE FAULTING & GROUND
FAILURE)
IRREGULARITIES IN ELEVATION
AND PLAN
FIRE FOLLOWING RUPTURE OF
UTILITIES
LACK OF DETAILING AND
CONSTRUCTION MATERIALS
INATTENTION TO NON-
STRUCTURAL ELEMENTS
CAUSES
OF
DAMAGE
GLOBAL
“DISASTER
LABORATORIES”

12. INITIAL REPORTS:
AT LEAST 480 PEOPLE IN 4
COUNTRIES (NEPAL, INDIA,
TIBET, BANGLADESH)
KILLED; MANY INJURED;
POSSIBLY MANY TRAPPED
UNDER RUBBLE

13. DAMAGE

14. SEARCH AND RESCUE

15. A COMPARISON WITH OTHER
DEVASTATING
EARTHQUAKES
(in terms of casualties)

16. DECEMBNER 1920 HAIYUAN,
CHINA EARTHQUAKE
• DEATH TOLL ESTIMATED AT
273,400.

17. SEPTEMBER 1923 GREAT KANTO
EARTHQUAKE: JAPAN
• DEATH TOLL ESTIMATED AT
142,000.

18. JULY 1976 TANGSHAN, CHINA
EARTHQUAKE
• DEATH TOLL ESTIMATED AT
242,000 TO 655,000.

19. EXAMPLE: 240,000 DEAD AFTER
“BULLS-EYE” EARTHQUAKE
• TANGSHAN, CHINA
(1976) EARTHQUAKE:
The impossible situation;
too late for a race
against time” to save
lives and protect
property.

20. EL ASNAM, ALGERIA; 3,500
DEAD (OCT. 10, 1980)

21. EXAMPLE: COLLAPSE OF HIGH-RISE
APARTMENT BUILDINGS
• MEXICO CITY AFTER
1985 EARTHQUAKE:
Timely responses
during a forty-eight
hour and thirty day
“race against time”
save lives and protect
property

22. EXAMPLE: SEARCH AND RESCUE OF
SURVIVORS IN COLLAPSED BLDGS.
• TURKEY (1999)
KOCALEI EARTH-
QUAKE):
• Timely responses
during a forty-eight
hour “race against
time” to save lives
and protect property

23. EXAMPLE: GUJARAT, INDIA
20,800 DEAD (JAN 26, 2001)

24. BOUMERDES, ALGERIA; 2,226
DEAD (MAY 21, 2003)

25. DECEMBER 2004 EARTH-
QUAKE/TSUNAMI: INDONESIA
• DEATH TOLL ESTIMATED AT
280,000.

26. EXAMPLE: 230,000 DEAD AFTER
EARTHQUAKE/TSUNAMI
• INDONESIA (2004):
The impossible
situation; too late
for a race against
time” to save lives
and protect
property.

27. MAY 2008 EARTHQUAKE:
SICHUAN PROVINCE, CHINA
• DEATH TOLL ESTIMATED AT
88,000.

28. EXAMPLE: 88,000 DEAD AS RESULT OF
NON-ENGINEERED BUILDINGS
• CHINA (MAY 2008):
• The impossible
situation; too late for a
race against time” to
save lives and
protect property.

29. JANUARY 2012 HAITI
EARTHQUAKE
• DEATH TOLL ESTIMATED AT
220,000.

30. EXAMPLE: 220,000 DEAD AS RESULT
OF NON-ENGINEERED BUILDINGS
• HAITI (2010):
• The impossible
situation; too late for a
race against time” to
save lives and
protect property.

31. EXAMPLE: A TENT CITY FOR
SURVIVORS AFTER AN EARTHQUAKE
• HAITI (2010):
Timely temporary
housing during a
thirty day “race
against time” to
save lives and
protect property

32. EXAMPLE: SURPRISE! DEBRIS FROM
JAPAN’S TSUNAMI NOW IN USA
• SENDAI, JAPAN
AFTER THE MARCH
2011 EARTHQUAKE
AND TSUNAMI: What
will happen to the
radioactive debris?

33. LESSON: THE KNOWLEDGE AND TIMING
OF ANTICIPATORY ACTIONS IS VITAL
• The people who know: 1) what to
expect (e.g., strong ground motion,
soil effects, tsunami wave run up,
ground failure), 2) where and when
they will happen, and 3) what they
should (and should not) do to
prepare for them will survive.

34. LESSON: TIMELY, REALISTIC
DISASTER SCENARIOS SAVE LIVES
• The people who have timely,
realistic, advance information that
facilitates reduction of
vulnerabilities, and hence the risks
associated with strong ground
shaking, tsunami wave run up, and
ground failure will survive.

35. LESSON: EMERGENCY RESPONSE
SAVES LIVES
• The “Uncontrollable and
Unthinkable” events will always
hinder the timing of emergency
response operations, especially the
search and rescue operations that
are limited to “the golden 48 hours.”

36. LESSON: EMERGENCY MEDICAL
PREPAREDNESS SAVES LIVES
• The local community’s capacity for
emergency health care (i,e., coping
with damaged hospitals and medical
facilities, lack of clean drinking
water, food, and medicine, and
high levels of morbidity and
mortality) is vital for survival.

37. LESSON: EARTHQUAKE ENGINEERED
BUILDINGS SAVE LIVES
• Buildings engineered to withstand
the risks from an earthquake’s
strong ground shaking and ground
failure that cause damage, collapse,
and loss of function, is vital for
protecting occupants and users
from death and injury.

38. LESSON: THE INTERNATIONAL
COMMUNITY ALWAYS PROVIDES AID
• The International Community
provides millions to billions of
dollars in relief to help “pick up the
pieces, ” but this strategy is not
enough by itself to ensure
earthquake disaster resilience.

39. FACT
MOST OF THE 200 + NATIONS
NEED EARTHQUAKE DISASTER
RESILIENCE POLICIES THAT ARE
BASED ON LESSONS LEARNED
FROM PAST EARTHQUAKE
DISASTER LABORATORIES

40. YOUR
COMMUNITY
DATA BASES
AND INFORMATION
HAZARDS:
GROUND SHAKING
GROUND FAILURE
SURFACE FAULTING
TECTONIC DEFORMATION
TSUNAMI RUN UP
AFTERSHOCKS
•MONITORING
•HAZARD MAPS
•INVENTORY
•VULNERABILITY
•LOCATION
RISK
ACCEPTABLE RISK
UNACCEPTABLE RISK
BOOKS OF
KNOWLEDGE
•PREPAREDNESS
•PROTECTION
•EM RESPONSE
•RECOSTRUCTION AND
RECOVERY
EARTHQUAKE DISASTER
RESILIENCE

41. PILLARS OF EARTHQUAKE DISASTER
RESILIENCE
Preparedness
Protection: Adoption and Implementation of a
Modern Earthquake Engineering Building Code
and Lifeline Standards
Prevention: Land Use Planning and Base
Isolation

42. PILLARS OF EARTHQUAKE DISASTER
RESILIENCE (continued)
Monitoring
Realistic Earthquake Disaster Scenarios
Timely Emergency Response (including search
and Rescue and Emergency Medical Services)
Cost-Effective Recovery and Reconstruction

43. THE CHALLENGE:
CHANGING EXISTING POLICIES:
CREATE, ADJUST, AND REALIGN
PROGRAMS, PARTNERS AND PEOPLE UNTIL
YOU HAVE CREATED THE KINDS OF TURNING
POINTS NEEDED FOR MOVING TOWARDS
EARTHQUAKE DISASTER RESILIENCE

44. AN UNDER-UTILIZED GLOBAL
STRATEGY
To Create Turning Points for
Earthquake Disaster Resilience
 USING EDUCATIONAL SURGES CONTAINING
THE PAST AND PRESENT LESSONS TO FOSTER
AND ACCELERATE POLICY CHANGES

45. MOVING TOWARDS THE MUST-
HAPPEN GLOBAL STRATEGY
To Achieve Earthquake Disaster
Resilience
INTEGRATION OF SCIENTIFIC AND
TECHNICAL SOLUTIONS WITH POLITICAL
SOLUTIONS IN EVERY NATION FOR
REALISTIC POLICIES ON PREPAREDNESS,
PROTECTION, DISASTER SCENARIOS,
EMERGENCY RESPONSE,
RECONSTRUCTION, AND RECOVERY