Natural Hazards - Gorkha Earthquake (2015)

Question 1

Date and time:

Answer 1

25 April 2015, 11.56 am

Question 2

Magnitude:

Answer 2

7.8 on Richter scale

Question 3

Location of epicentre:

Answer 3

Barpak, 80km NW of Kathmandu

Question 4

Deaths, injuries, homeless:

Answer 4

8841 dead, over 16800 injured, 1 million made homeless

Question 5

Why so many modern buildings also collapsed:

Answer 5

Lack of compulsory building standards

Question 6

Main Primary Effects:

Answer 6

• Historic buildings and temples in Kathmandu destroyed
• Iconic Dharahara Tower destroyed, in which 200 people were trapped
• Destruction of 26 hospitals and 50% of schools
• Reduced water, food, electricity supply
• 352 aftershocks, including a second earthquake in May of 7.3 magnitude

Question 7

Main Secondary Effects:

Answer 7

• Triggered an avalanche on Mt. Everest that killed 19 tourists and Sherpas
• Nepal’s tourism, employment, and income will shrink until it recovers from the earthquake, although it was expected to grow
• Earthquake happened just before monsoon season, when rice is planted - rice seed was ruined, causing food shortages and income loss

Question 8

Proportion of GDP that was tourism in 2014:

Answer 8

8.9%

Question 9

Jobs provided by tourism in 2014:

Answer 9

1.1 million

Question 10

Main Immediate Responses:

Answer 10

• UK’s Disasters Emergency Committee raised $126 million to provide emergency aid
• Tents supplied for 225,000 people by the Red Cross
• UN and WHO distributed medical supplies to worst-affected areas, especially due to risk of waterborne disease
• Sherpas were used to hike supplies to remote areas
• Facebook lanched its safety feature

Question 11

People cut off by road and unreachable by air:

Answer 11

315,000 cut off, 75,000 unreachable

Question 12

Main Long-Term Responses:

Answer 12

• 8 months after the earthquake, $274 million of aid had been committed to the recovery
• Durbar Square heritage sites reopened in June to encourage tourism for income
• Everest reopened by August after re-routing some routes
• The Food and Agriculture Organisation of UN trained individuals to maintain and repair irrigation channels damaged by landslides - improved crop production/growing seasons

Question 13

Percentage of affected people still living in temporary shelters/unrepaired homes by 2018:

Answer 13

34%

Question 14

Additional percentage of population moved into poverty:

Answer 14

3% - Equates to around 1 million people