Gorkha earthquake, Nepal

Question 1

How many deaths and injuries where there and what type of impact is this?

Answer 1

-9000 deaths and 22,000 injuries central-eastern Nepal
-160 deaths in neighboring countries (India, Bangladesh and China), mainly in India
-avalanches at Everest killed 22 climbers near base camp
= social impact

Question 2

What buildings and number of houses got destroyed and how many people became displaced? What type of impact is this?

Answer 2

-2.8 million displaced at Kathmandu valley
-around half a million houses destroyed or damage with whole villages
-26 hospitals in destruction
-7000 schools flattered (raised death toll)
= social impact

Question 3

How many people required food assistance from the earthquake and the type of impact this is?

Answer 3

-1 million required food assistance

= social impact

Question 4

What was there an increase in after the earthquake? What caused this to happen?

Answer 4

-drop into poverty and lack of opportunities increased child trafficking of women and girls from the poorest families to South Asian brothels
= social impact

Question 5

What uneven impacts were there for different social groups?

Answer 5

• lower-caste were harder hit who lived in the higher slopes of the Himalayas
• single women struggled to receive relief aid
• culturally important locations were damaged such as the oldest Buddhist monument & World Heritage Site

Question 6

What was the estimated cost of the earthquake disaster?

Answer 6

-US$10 billion by US Geological Survey

Question 7

What impact impact did the closure of Mt. Everest have and the damage of trekking routes and World Heritage sites in Kathmandu valley?

Answer 7

-90% cancellation of tourist bookings
-impacting 10% economy
-loss of US$600 million 2015-17
= economic impact

Question 8

How much aid for construction was given and by who?

Answer 8

-US$200 million given by Asian Development Bank

Question 9

Who where in debt after the earthquake?

Answer 9

• Nepal Government
• businesses
• and individuals

Question 10

What impact did the timing of the earthquake have on rural families and what type of impact did this create?

Answer 10

-disrupted the paddy-planting season
-stored grains destroyed
-harvest of rice and maize were disappointing & there was a loss of livestock which meant hardship for rural families
-700,000 were pushed into poverty (2015-16), majority from mountainous regions
= economic and social impact

Question 11

How is Nepal politically?

Answer 11

• has been politically unstable in the past

- but showed signs of settling

Question 12

What impact did the earthquake have politically towards Nepal?

Answer 12

-undermined progress towards peace and greater democracy

Question 13

What political tension was created by the earthquake?

Answer 13

-tensions created towards International aid India using humanitarian aid to elf-promote within the region

Question 14

What emergency aid assistance was there?

Answer 14

• military aircraft and operating personnel

- sent by Indonesia

Question 15

How many in total were effected by the earthquake?

Answer 15

-the UN estimates 8 million (1/3 of total population)

Question 16

What is the main aim for Nepal?

Answer 16

• build resilience in its economy
• social cohesion
• and governance
• to break through the cycle of vulnerability

Question 17

What are the three main risks in Nepal’s preparedness?

Answer 17

• geology -> further seismic work needed & landslide mapping
• architecture -> older buildings and new ones have no structured reinforcements due to issues with resource availability & lack of education. Building codes need enforcement
• urbanization -> rapid expanding informal settlements - exceeds government ability to enforce regulations -> poverty crisis from over-reliance on concrete (loss in indigenous knowledge)

Question 18

How are Kathmandu valley slopes vulnerable to landslides?

Answer 18

• powerful tremors in region
• saturated from snow melt
• monsoon rains

Question 19

What unequal spatial impacts are there?

Answer 19

• poor quality rural houses more badly destroyed than towns /cities
• Kathmandu valley’s pre-historical lakes cause intense liquefaction & weak buildings collapse under ground shaking

Question 20

What unequal Gender impacts were there?

Answer 20

• more female than male deaths due to working in houses which collapsed
• loss of livestock and small-scale enterprises impacted women
• destruction of water & sanitation infrastructure meant greater distances to receive supplies -> more time consuming for other economic activities

Question 21

What was there a reduction in after the earthquake and by how much? What caused this drop off?

Answer 21

• 14 HEP stations were damaged

- caused a 25% loss in electricity capacity

Question 22

How were the rescue efforts of the earthquake hindered?

Answer 22

• helicopters transporting badly injured to Pheriche (nearest clinic) hindered by bad weather & communications
• roads outside world were blocked preventing aid & daily supplies reaching Nepal
• main obstruction of rescue and relief operations were that villages were unreachable

Question 23

What flooding was there and what caused this?

Answer 23

• floods upstream due to blocked rivers
• collapse of unstable debris blocking drainage of lakes
• moraines weakened by tremors cause thousands to evacuate
• lake created at Kali Gandaki river caused homes to be flooded 1km from the debris dam

Question 24

How was the severity of the earthquake reduced?

Answer 24

-earthquake ahead of monsoon season so ground was dry -> less intense shaking and stronger rocks

Question 25

What was the earthquake on the Richter scale and Mercalli scale?

Answer 25

• M7.8 on the Richer scale -> thousands deaths and widespread poverty
• IX (violent) on the Mercalli scale - made deadlier by underlying poverty

Question 26

What caused the earthquake to occur and where about was it?

Answer 26

• subduction of the Indian plate and the overriding Eurasian plate (15km depth)
• approx 80km northwest Kathmandu, Gorkha district

Question 27

How many aftershocks were there how intense were they and what impact did they have?

Answer 27

• 300 aftershocks over 6 weeks (M4.0 - 6.7)
• major aftershock M7.3 eastern end same fault line main earthquake
• killed a further 200
• disrupted relief efforts already underway

Question 28

What info did scientist discover about the cause and energy of the earthquake?

Answer 28

• there was massive accumulated strain in the area

- Gorkha released 4-5% stored energy (crust ruptured, remaining pent up energy along fault line)

Question 29

What secondary hazards were there caused by the earthquake?

Answer 29

-mountainous terrain led to landslides
-Langtang region (west Kathmandu) buried by landslides
-Langtang experienced pressure wave prior to the breaking-off point of part of a glacier caused avalanche 2-3km wide of snow, ice, rock and materials
-killed 300
250 deaths from mudslide and avalanche at Ghodatabela
-Laprak village of 2000 people completely destroyed
-25 vehicles on Armiko Highway to Tibet blocked by landslides

Question 30

How many people were cut off by landslides on roads and how many were unreachable in remote areas?

Answer 30

• 315,000 people were cut off by road

- additional 75,00 were unreachable by remote areas

Question 31

What was the response made by the Red Cross and what type of response was this?

Answer 31

-the Red Cross provided tents for 225,000 people

= immediate response

Question 32

How much money did the UK’s DEC raise by September 2015 and what was it used for? Which type of response was this?

Answer 32

-the UK’s DEC raised US $126 million by September 2015
-to provide emergency aid & start rebuilding the worst hit areas
-rebuilding such as housing, schools, roads, monuments and agriculture
=long term response

Question 33

What was the response of the World Health Organisation and what type of response was this in terms of short and long?

Answer 33

-The World Health Organisation (WHO) distributed medical supplies to the worst-affected districts
=immediate response