Nepal 2015 Case Study

What were the features of the earthquake? (e.g. magnitude, location, etc)

• the major earthquake happened on the 25 April 2015

• It struck 80 km from Kathmandu (the capital) and had a depth of 15 km

• it was magnitude 7.8, and there were major aftershocks with magnitudes of up to 7.3

Why was Nepal a vulnerable country?

• in 2016 it was 197th in a world ranking of GDP per capita

• it had a weak infrastructure which was badly damaged

• most of Kathmandu’s buildings were not built to withstand earthquakes, so many collapsed

• Nepal is in the Himalayas, so the terrain is very mountainous. This not only makes it difficult to access rural areas in need of help, but also means that landslides are common

• Nepal heavily relied on tourism, which fell significantly after the earthquake

What were the impacts of the 2015 earthquake?

• many homes were not built to withstand earthquakes (because of lack of resources), so they collapsed

• Nepal’s economy is estimated to have lost $5 billion, which was about 25% of its gross domestic product

• 8633 were killed and 21,000 were injured

• 3 million people were made homeless

• Around 20 people died on Mount Everest

• UNESCO world heritage sites were destroyed

What were the responses to the earthquake?

• India and China gave a total of $1 billion of aid

• the GIS tool ‘crisis mapping’ was used to coordinate the response

• Temporary housing was provided in Kathmandu