The April 2015 Nepal earthquake (also known as the Gorkha earthquake) killed more than 8,800 people and injured more than 23,000. It occurred at 11:56 NST on 25 April, with a magnitude of 7.8 or 8.1 and a maximum Mercalli Intensity of IX (Violent). Its epicenter was east of the district of Lamjung, and its hypocenter was at a depth of approximately 15 km (9.3 mi). It was the worst natural disaster to strike Nepal since the 1934 Nepal–Bihar earthquake.
The earthquake triggered an avalanche on Mount Everest, killing at least 19 making April 25, 2015 the deadliest day on the mountain in history. The earthquake triggered another huge avalanche in the Langtang valley, where 250 people were reported missing.
Hundreds of thousands of people were made homeless with entire villages flattened, 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 Squar, the Bhaktapur Durbar Square, the Changu Narayan Temple and the SwayambhunathStupa. Geophysicists and other experts had warned for decades that Nepal was vulnerable to a deadly earthquake, particularly because of its geology, urbanization, and architecture.
Continued aftershocks occurred throughout Nepal within 15–20 minute intervals, with one shock reaching a magnitude of 6.7 on 26 April at 12:54:08 NST. The country also had a continued risk of landslides.
A major aftershock occurred on 12 May 2015 at 12:51 NST with a moment magnitude (Mw) of 7.3. The epicenter was near the Chinese border between the capital of Kathmandu and Mt. Everest . More than 200 people were killed and more than 2,500 were injured by this aftershock.
Affected areas
Thousands of houses were destroyed across many districts of the country, with entire villages flattened, especially those near the epicenter.The Tribhuvan International Airport serving Kathmandu was closed immediately after the quake, but was re-opened later in the day for relief operations and, later, for some commercial flights. It subsequently shut down operations sporadically due to aftershocks, and on 3 May was closed temporarily to the largest planes for fear of runway damage. Many workers were not at their posts, either from becoming earthquake casualties or because they were dealing with its after effects. Flights resumed from Pokhara, to the west of the epicentre, on 27 April.
Several of the churches in the Kathmandu valley were destroyed. As Saturday is the principal day of Christian worship in Nepal, 500 people are reported to have died in the collapses.
Several pagodas on Kathmandu Durbar Square, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, collapsed, as did the Dharaharatower, built in 1832; the collapse of the latter structure killed at least 180 people.. Manakamana Temple in Gorkha was also destroyed. The northern side of Janaki Mandir in Janakpur was reported to have been damaged.[105]Several temples, including Kasthamandap, Panchtale temple, the top levels of the nine-story Basantapur Durbar, the Dasa Avtar temple and two dewals located behind the Shiva Parvati temple were demolished by the quake. Some other monuments, including the Kumari Temple and the Taleju Bhawani Temple partially collapsed.
The top of the Jaya Bageshwari Temple in Gaushala and some parts of the Pashupatinath Temple, Swyambhunath,Boudhanath Stupa, Ratna Mandir, inside Rani Pokhari, and Durbar High School have been destroyed.
In Patan, the Char Narayan Mandir, the statue of Yog Narendra Malla, a pati inside Patan Durbar Square, the Taleju Temple, the Hari Shankar, Uma Maheshwar Temple and the Machhindranath Temple in Bungamati were destroyed. In Tripureshwar, the Kal Mochan Ghat, a temple inspired by Mughal architecture, was completely destroyed and the nearby Tripura Sundari also suffered significant damage. In Bhaktapur, several monuments, including the Fasi Deva temple, the Chardham temple and the 17th century Vatsala Durga Temple, were fully or partially destroyed.
Outside the Valley, the Manakamana Temple in Gorkha, the Gorkha Durbar, the Palanchok Bhagwati, inKabhrepalanchok District, the Rani Mahal in Palpa District, the Churiyamai in Makwanpur District, the Dolakha Bhimsensthan in Dolakha District, and the Nuwakot Durbar were partially destroyed. Historian Prushottam Lochan Shrestha stated, "We have lost most of the monuments that had been designated as World Heritage Sites in Kathmandu,Bhaktapur and Lalitpur District, Nepal. They cannot be restored to their original states."[108] the north eastern parts of India also received major damage . Heavy shocks were felt including the states Uttrakhand, Uttar pradesh, West Bengal and many other states . A huge damage was caused to the property and the lives of the people.
Flood and landslide
Dozens of people were killed and more than 1,000 injured after a earthquake
It was worst tremor following the magnitude-7.8 earthquake that hit on April 25.
Nepalese home ministry spokesman Laxmi Prasad Dhakal said 65 people had so far been confirmed dead following Tuesday's quake, bringing the overall death toll to more than 8,200.
Seventeen people in northern India have also been confirmed dead following the latest tremor.
Mr Dhakal also gave an update on a missing helicopter which lost contact during a relief operation in the eastern district of Dolakha.
He said the missing chopper had not been found, but that four more helicopters had been deployed to join the search.
Diwakar Koirala, deputy administrator in Sindhupalchowk district, said Tuesday's quake caused three more big landslides.
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Geologists are rushing to identify the areas most at risk from rock and mud falls, but resources are stretched as the country recovers from last month's quake.
The risk of more prevented the authorities from heading to affected villages to help.
Among the areas of most concern are those where landslides have fallen into rivers, potentially flooding nearby communities once the monsoon starts in earnest, probably in early June, scientists said.
In a report to the Government last week, the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD) in Kathmandu identified six critical landslides that blocked rivers after the April 25 earthquake. Five are in Nepal and one in Tibet.
After the April earthquake, scientists at ICIMOD started to monitor landslides using satellite images sent from agencies in Japan, the United States, China and India.
The group will keep watch on the six danger spots, including one in Langtang, where hundreds of people died in a huge landslide triggered by the quake.
Melting glaciers pose flood risks
People living in Nepal's mountains have long accepted the risk of landslides and floods.
Even before the latest earthquakes, those were on the rise as shifting weather patterns increased the chances of flooding from melting glaciers, more intense monsoon rains and the bursting of glacial lakes when their banks collapsed.
Jeffrey S Kargel, a researcher at the University of Arizona, said retreating glaciers could also leave unsupported debris, increasing the risk of land
"These materials are highly unstable, and it doesn't take much to knock them down and make a debris avalanche or landslide," he said.
Despite years of preparation for the next big earthquake, Nepal's government has been slow to map landslide-prone areas, said Bishal Nath Upreti, chairman of the Disaster Preparedness Network Nepal.
"It's very hard to convince the government. They didn't think it was so important," Mr Upreti said.
"It's urgent to start now."
Fresh quake may hamper aid efforts
Tuesday's quake was powerful enough that it shook buildings more than 1,000 kilometres away in the Indian capital, New Delhi.
Its epicentre was near the Mount Everest base camp, which was abandoned after last month's quake.
In Kathmandu, some buildings collapsed and others have been badly damaged.
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Red Cross spokesman Mark South told the ABC it would take some time to assess how this latest tremor affected communities living close to the epicentre.
"This earthquake was on the other side of Kathmandu so will have hit the hilly areas between Everest and Kathmandu much harder than the last earthquake," he said.
"Yet we know that those areas were badly affected by the earthquake two weeks ago.
"So we are waiting to find out what's actually happened in those hilly areas: have there been more avalanches and landslides, have more houses collapsed?"
Aid is still yet to reach some remote communities and the latest quake could make it even harder for relief teams to reach people.
Oxfam spokeswoman Jane Cocking said relief efforts were strained.
"This is the additional earthquake that we have all been dreading," Ms Cocking said.
"Aid is getting through to people who were effected by the earthquake two weeks ago.
"But this is going to make it much more thinly spread, so it will only mean that we need to step up our efforts."
There are also fears the latest quake will have a have a lasting and damaging psychological effect on residents.
"The folks here have gone through a lot in the last three weeks," said Paul Dillon, who is part of the International Organisation for Migration's response team in Nepal.
"And to have this major quake in the middle of the afternoon in very similar circumstances to the one on April 25 obviously is bringing back a lot of horrific memories for a lot of people."
Challenges of relocation following disaster
Beyond the immediate emergency, some families will have to move to safer areas — a slow, costly process which Nepal can ill afford.
In addition to thinking about whether to evacuate residents, officials said they were rushing to excavate blocked roads and deliver extra food to far-flung communities that will soon be cut off by the rains.
"There are some areas where it is very difficult to stay on a long-term basis, so we are looking at resettlement," home ministry adviser Iman Gurung said.
"We hope it's not a big number.
"These villages have thousands of years of history. But we don't want to put their lives at risk."
One of those moving may be Ram Tamang.
During the monsoon last August, he was out on a job driving when a wall of dirt and boulders crashed down a mountain onto the village of Jure, burying his wife, three of his children and his mother in their home.
Like many survivors, Mr Tamang left the ruins of the village, and moved to a hamlet down the road.
After last month's earthquake sent rocks spilling down the mountain once again, Mr Tamang wonders where to go.
"It's not safe here," the 42-year-old said last week, before Tuesday's tremor.
"Last night, it was raining hard the whole night and I couldn't sleep. I'm always worried another landslide will come."
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Economic loss
The earthquake killed more than 8,600 in Nepal and injured more than twice as many. The rural death toll may have been lower than it would have been as the villagers were outdoors, working when the quake hit As of 15 May, 6,271 people, including 1,700 from the 12 May aftershock, were still receiving treatment for their injuries More than 450,000 people were displaced.
The Himalayan Times reported that as many as 20,000 foreign nationals may have been visiting Nepal at the time of the earthquake, although reports of foreign deaths were relatively low.
