Earthquake

Not many people in Nepal, realize that Nepal is among the high risk countries in terms of
earthquake occurrences. Find out more about the reason behind this and what the damages
might be if Nepal is hit with a devastating earthquake.
Nepal is as disaster prone country. Floods, landslides, epidemics and fires cause considerable
loss of life and property in Nepal every year. Earthquakes, on the other hand are not so
frequent, but has the potential for causing the greatest damage. Nepal is a seismic prone
country and the risk it faces from earthquakes are very high. Past records have shown that
Nepal can expect two earthquakes of magnitude 7.5-8 on the Richter scale every forty years
and one earthquake of magnitude of 8+ in Richter scale every eighty years. The last great
earthquake to strike Nepal was in 1934 which had a magnitude of 8.3 Richter. It caused
considerable damage to buildings along with great loss of lives. Since then, the population in
Nepal has skyrocketed; urban development, unplanned and construction practices have
deteriorated. If a similar earthquake to that of 1934 was to strike now, it would cause a
greater loss of lives and properties.
History

1310 BS / 1255 AD
The first recorded earthquake in history of Nepal took place on June 7, 1255 AD. One third of
the total population of Kathmandu were killed including Abahya Malla , the King of
Kathmandu valley , numerous buildings and temples of the valley were entirely destroyed
while many of them were severely damaged, the magnitude of the earthquake is said to be
around 7.7 in Richter scale
1316BS/ 1260 AD
Next recorded big earthquake after 1255 AD was during the reign of King Jayadev Malla,
many buildings and temples collapsed and many more were severely damaged, Although the
exact number of fatalities cannot be confirmed still we know from the facts that there was a
heavy loss of live resulting from the earthquakes and from the subsequent epidemic and
famine said to be widespread which arose from the aftermath of the disaster.
1463BS/ 1408AD
The month August or September of this year saw another major earthquake hit the valley of
Kathmandu and the surrounding areas, during the reign of king Shyam singh. The temple of
Rato Matchendranath was completely destroyed while many other temples and buildings
collapsed and were damaged. Cracks on land appeared in many places. There was a heavy
loss of lives and livestock.
1737BS/ 1681 AD
Either on the month of December or January, during the reign King Sri Niwas Malla, another
major earthquake said to hit Nepal and the Kathmandu valley. Although very little

information is available on this particular earthquake, there was heavy loss lives as well as
many buildings including temples were either damaged or destroyed.
1767 AD
In months of June and July another significant earthquake seemed to have hit Nepal. Twenty
one shocks and aftershocks of this particular earthquake is said to have occurred in a span of
twenty four hours. No written or verbal records survive to indicate any human loss or the
magnitude of sufferings and damages caused.
1866 BS/ 1810 AD
During the reign of King Girban Yudha Bikram Shah in the months of May or June twenty
one shocks of earthquakes in total were felt in Nepal. Although the loss in human lives and
cattle were limited, many houses, building and some temples were either destroyed or
damaged.
1880 BS / 1823AD
Seventeen earthquake tremors of various magnitudes were felt in the region of Katmandu
valley but these shocks probably were smaller relative to the past earthquakes as there was no
report of loss of human lives or livestock.
1890 BS/ 1833 AD
During the reign King Rajendra Bikram Shah on the months of August or September, Two
major strikes were experienced in the Kathmandu valley. The first one was felt in around 6
pm and the second one was around 11 pm at night when most of the valley people were
already in their beds. Houses, temples, public shelters collapsed. The tower of Dharahara was
also severely damaged. The towns of Thimi and Bhaktapur took the brunt of the disaster
severely damaging the housing facilities, roads network and various temples. Many building
and temples were utterly destroyed. 4214 houses were
1891 BS/ 1834 AD
Four major earthquakes were felt in the months of June and July. These earthquakes
destroyed or damaged many buildings and temples. However, the extent of damage was much
less than the previous ones (i.e., 1833 event). Since there was a lot of rain which commenced
and ended with the earthquakes the search and rescue operations were severely hampered.
The Bagmati River was over flooded and a bridge over the river also swept away. The crops
planted near the banks of the rivers were also swept away. There are no records of human or
livestock casualties.said to have collapsed within Kathmandu Valley and in totality over
18000 houses collapsed all over the country.
1990 BS/ 1934 AD
Magh (January- February) Earthquake, Known as Great Nepal Bihar Earthquake struck the
Kingdom of Nepal and it's surrounding areas around 2 pm on the 16th of January. The
magnitude of the earthquake was 8.4 on the Richter scale. Casualty figures were highest for
any recorded earthquake in the history of Nepal. In total 8519 people lost their lives in Nepal,

A total of 126355 houses were severely damaged and around 80893 buildings were
completely destroyed.
Total money spent from the earthquake relief fund was NRs 206500 inside Kathmandu valley
only. Earthquake relief fund was established by the king, loans were provided for earthquake
effected people and earthquake volunteers groups were formed.
For Details .Source
DesInventar NSET
Seismic Hazard Mapping and Risk Assessment for Nepal, UNDP/ UNCHS (Habitat)
Subproject
Disaster Risk Mitigation In Nepal
The History of Disaster Risk Mitigation in Nepal is relatively short compared to the rest of
the world. Only in recent times that the people as well as the government have been aware of
the potential risk and have been active in disaster risk mitigation. The Udaypur earthquake of
1998 was a major awakening for the country as well as for the people. With 721 people losing
their lives, 22 districts affected and the loss of over 5 billion rupees in property damages the
risk could not be ignored anymore. 1992 saw the start of the National Building Code
Development Project (BCDP) which also involved the future founders of NSET. Nepal also
observed the International Decade for Natural Disaster Reduction (IDNDR) Day for the first
time.
From then on various projects and workshops were conducted to tackle the disaster risk in
Nepal. NSET was founded in 1993 after seeing the need to have a Non-Governmental
Organization leading the charge. In 1994 the building code development project was released.
In 1995 the first attempt was done to get the media involved by conducting the first training
course for the journalists in disaster journalism. In 1998 His Majesty's Government of Nepal
declared 16 January as the National Earthquake Safety Day (ESD). NSET launched the
School Earthquake Safety Program (SESP) in 1999.
Since the realization of the effects of earthquake disasters on the population, various
programs have been launched with considerable success. People are made aware of the
earthquake threat and the importance has been realized by not only the people but also the
local government, local Non-Governmental as well as various international organizations.
Why are we affected
45 million years ago, the Indian continent collided into Southern Tibet. The Indian continent
is driven under Tibet, pushing lightweight sediments upwards and thus the formation of the
Himalayas. Nepal sits across the boundary between India and southern Tibet which are still
moving towards each other by 2 meters per century. This movement creates pressure within
the Earth, which builds up and can only be released through earthquakes. This is the only way
earthquakes can happen in Nepal.
Earthquakes happen very often in Nepal. Based on the seismic record of the number of
earthquakes that occurred since 1255, earthquakes of magnitude greater than 8 occurred on

average once every 80 years. The last great earthquake of magnitude 8.3 occurred in 1934.
The graph below shows the seismic record between 1911 - 1991. In terms of the per capital
risk, people living in the valley is 200 times more at risk than people living in Kobe, Japan.
As explained in the graphical images below.
The amount of damaged is strongly influenced by the quality of soil. Kathmandu Valley is
located on the site of a prehistoric lake which has been filled with soft sediments that make
up the valley floor today. These soft sediments magnify the shaking during an earthquake. In
addition, when shaken, the water saturated soil will change from a firm material to a semiliquid material and loses its ability to support structures. This phenomena is called
liquefaction. In the figure (above), the red areas have high liquefaction potential. The
Tribhuvan International Airport (bold area) is situated on relatively firm grounds but access to
it might be cut off due to collapse of bridges and impassable
For more information about loss estimates and the estimated degree of damaged done to other
critical facilities such as water and electricity supplies, telephone lines etc.
The population in the Kathmandu Valley has significantly increased in recently times. The
chart below shows the population increased since 1800. The red triangles indicate major
earthquakes that occurred.
Deaths: 40,000
Injuries: 100,000 - 200,000
Damaged Buildings: 60%
Homelessness: 600,000 - 900,000
For more information about loss estimates and the estimated degree of damaged done to other
critical facilities such as water and electricity supplies, telephone lines etc., please refer to the
Kathmandu Valley Earthquake Risk Management Project below. Kathmandu Valley
Earthquake Risk Management Project: Action Plan (3.49 MB) Adobe Acobat is needed to
open this file.
Earthquake Preparedness
Staying Safe before, During and After an Earthquake
These are some common do's and don'ts when an earthquake strikes, with slight
modifications to suit the Nepali context. These Instructions are laid out in three phase.
Before - Preparation for any future Earthquakes
During - What to do during an Earthquake
After - What is to be done after an Earthquake