Role of geotechnical engineering in earthquake disaster risk

reduction and management in Nepal

Nepal is one of the most seismologically active region in the Earth has experience
major earthquakes in the past. Although with the recent developments in the
engineering the earthquake that hit the country on the 25th of April 2015 left the
engineering community with numerous questions that need to be answered in the
future days. Despite the warnings of the seismologists, engineers and other experts
the vulnerability of the country in the case of earthquake the activities such as poorly
engineered and developed structured, unplanned urbanization caused a huge
economic loss and human causalities. Due to Gorkha earthquake an approximate of
9000 deaths occurred and an estimated 7 billion USD equivalent material loss was
encountered (Nepal Disaster Report, 2015).

After the major earthquake in 2015 various national and international team of
experts were involved in the disaster management program such as collection of the
geotechnical data for the events that occurred due to the Gorkha- Earthquake, the
aftermaths and also the various natural disaster that were triggered by the earthquake
such as landslides. In the last earth quake country faced the numerical count for the
damage of the structures raised up too few hundred thousand. The damage to the
buildings generally includes partial damage, subsidence and other problems. Despite
the structural damage of the building many of the buildings were such found that the
structural unit was intact whereas there were problems such as foundation rocking
and sliding of the foundation (Common stuctural and construction deficiencies of
Nepalese Buildings, 2016). The Araniko highway during the earthquake stands up for
the example for the comparison of the geotechnically engineered works and
conventional method, for example in the stretch of the highway in the 200m of the
Terra Armec reinforced soil only minor damage were observed such as few cracks and
differential settlement (Western side of the embankment). However, the conventional
embankment experienced much greater damage (Eastern side of the embankment)
(Reconnaissance report on geotechnical and structural damage caused by the 2015
Gorkha Earthquake ,Nepal, 2015). Also, the similar comparison can be done with the
conventional type of retaining structure and reinforce retaining structure. Other
highways in the country also experienced few major and minor damages such as
cracks and landslides, also the study was carried out for such earthquake triggered
landslides.

With all the damage inflicted upon the country it can be deduced that there is lack of
proper implementation of local and national laws for the construction and design of
the structures also there lacks proper research in the fields. In all the cases, be it
buildings or be it roads and there arises questions Are enough geotechnical
exploration and investigation are done prior to designs?, Is there proper guidance
for the construction of civil engineering structures based upon seismic microzoning
or geological characters of the area? and a major question How to provide these
geotechnical knowledges to the grass root level? as it can be seen major building
damages occurred to the places where the building was poorly engineered in general
terms. Also, being a geotechnical engineer, I would like to raise a question against the
thumb rule of design that is most used in the market known as MRT design rules, Is
generalization of this rule appropriate? sure leaves a thought on our head after
experiences the devastation by the earthquake. The damages In the Kathmandu valley
were not just causes by the poor quality and poorly engineered building but also due
to the local site effect induced on soft alluvial solid deposits. Soil amplification is
typical to lacustrine and deep clay deposits such as Kathmandu valley and evidences
of basin edge effect can be also being seen at Nakia, Swichatar and other areas
(Performance of Buildings during Gorkha Earthquake 2015 and Recent trends of
Repair/ Rehabilitation works, 2015), thus can be said that there need much larger
work required for the seismic microzoning in the valley as well as country wide
although microzoning up to a level has been carried out, with this it will be easier for
the disaster risk management as well as risk reduction as there proper planning such
as land use plans and properly planned urbanization can be carried out .

With the Gorkha Earthquake 2015 it can be seen that geotechnical engineers play an
vital role in the disaster risk management as well as risk reduction as earthquakes are
the natural phenomenon that can neither be predicted nor prevented but the possible
damage outcome can be reduced if there is proper geotechnical data and supervision
while making of the standard building laws and code of practices as well as it is seen
that there exists need of various workshops that would make civil - engineers aware
of the geotechnical facts and causes that may help in the damage reduction due to the
geological conditions while and earthquake similar is in the case of other civil
engineering elements such as roads and embankments where the need to be a proper
study of the area without with the whole transport network through that certain
section would be obstructed .

Lastly I would like to quote that in the last earthquake it wasnt the earthquake that
killed people it was civil engineering structures, hence for the structures to be safe the
study of the geo-material that lies under the structure needs to be studies well hence
a greater need of the geotechnical engineers to minimize the risks due to disaster that
are likely to occur in near future and after disaster management such as recognizing
the damage inflicted and assisting the government for the proper planning and
framing of rehabilitation plans as well as improvisation of the development plans.

Gaurav Malla

073/MSGT/806
Entrance rank:654
References
Common stuctural and construction deficiencies of Nepalese Buildings. Dipendra Gautam, Hugo
Rodrigues,Krishna Kumar Bhetwal, Pramod Neupane, yashushi Sanada. 2016. 2016.

Nepal Disaster Report. 2015. s.l. : Goverment of Nepal Ministry of Home Affairs, 2015.

Performance of Buildings during Gorkha Earthquake 2015 and Recent trends of Repair/ Rehabilitation
works. Prof. Gokarna Bahadur Motra, Ph.D. 2015. 2015. Proceedings of IOE Graduate Conference.

Reconnaissance report on geotechnical and structural damage caused by the 2015 Gorkha Earthquake
,Nepal. Gabrielle Chiaro, takashi Kiyota, Rama Mohan Pokhrel , Katsuichiro Goda, Toshikiko Katagiri
, Keshab Sharma. 2015. s.l. : The Japanese Geotechnical society, 2015, Soil and Foundation.

Report on a reconnaissance survey of damage in Kathmandu caused by the 2015 Gorkha Nepal
Earthquake. Mitsu Okamura, Netra P. Bhandari ,Sinchiro Mori ,Narayan Marasini ,Hemanta
Hazarika. 2015. s.l. : The Japanese Geotechnical Society, 2015, Soils and Foundations.