I really worry about the earthquake in Nepal. People really need to be aware for the disaster prevention in advance. No political forces can save from this disaster. Kathmandu will really get devastated.

There are many bahals and houses in old toles, which are more vulnerable.

http://www.itc.nl/unu/dgim/unedra/refresher/_docs/lectures/20_09_2005_earthquake_hazard_and_risk_assessment.pdf

Can you believe that the picture at the top right hand side is real?

http://www.tectonics.caltech.edu/publications/NepalBrochure3-2006.pdf

So, what is an earthquake? Just the shaking of the ground and destruction or is there more? Well, most people who are unaware of what earthquakes are tend to define an earthquake as a disastrous event that causes nothing but destruction. This is true to some extent but if it were not for earthquakes, the map of Nepal would be very different today. The Himalayan range that we are proud of today is a formation made from earthquakes. They are formed resulting from intracontinental collision of the Indian Plate with the Eurasian Plate. The Indian Subcontinent drifts northward beneath the Eurasian Plate at a rate of 2 cm per year that creates every 200 years or so a series of great earthquakes.

Significant property damage and/or loss of life following an earthquake are an ever-present threat and apply to all natural disasters. The recent historical example is 1934 Bihar-Nepal earthquake that reached 8.4 on the Richter scale with an intensity of X. Over 8000 people died, 15,000 were injured and 200,000 houses destroyed. A large earthquake of magnitude 8 or more has not occurred in Nepal for last 69 years. It will occur but, When? Where? Another vital question is "are we well prepared for the impending earthquake?"

Kathmandu’s population and building construction has increased more than 10 times compared to time of the 1934 earthquake. The increased density of population and buildings in the city means that more people are at risk from earthquakes as compared to that of 69 years ago. If a major earthquake should strike now, the deaths and damages are feared to go up more than 10 folds. It is estimated that depending upon the time of the earthquake some 40,000 people could perish. The country has become much more vulnerable to seismic disaster than ever before due to rapid population expansion and uncontrolled urbanisation. This trend is intensifying rapidly everyday. The scale of potential human suffering will be much greater in terms of deaths, injuries, incidence of shock and bereavement incorporated with subsequent disease and long-term illness.

http://www.nepalnews.com.np/contents/englishweekly/sundaypost/2003/feb/feb16/2ndpage.htm


When an earthquake of the magnitude that just occurred in Pakistan hits Kathmandu and the hills of Nepal….

Tens of thousands will die immediately and be injured as poorly constructed brick buildings collapse.
There will be no effective system for bringing in relief.
The two roads to the plains of India will almost certainly be blocked;
The airport, which is built on lakebed sediments, could well be unusable;
Roads, bridges and other infrastructure that links communities within Kathmandu will be damaged and blocked;
Rural areas are likely to be completely inaccessible;
Water supply and sanitation systems – two of the most important needs for survival – will collapse.
Disease will spread rapidly due to disruption of water supply and sanitation systems. Within days the immediate impacts of the quake will be compounded by disease as sanitation collapses and hundreds of thousands of people are forced to depend on whatever water they can find.
An earthquake of magnitude 8 or greater is all but inevitable in the Kathmandu region.

The only question is when?
http://www.i-s-e-t.org/nepaleq.html

Photo source: http://www.undp.org/bcpr/disred/documents/regions/asia/nepal_prepI.pdf

http://www.hyogo.uncrd.or.jp/school%20project/pdf/2006NepalWS%20Presentation%20Mahesh.pdf
http://www.mof.gov.np/economic_policy/pdf/Natural_Disasters.pdf
http://unpan1.un.org/intradoc/groups/public/documents/APCITY/UNPAN019548.pdf

http://itc.eu/research/policy/spearhead3/vwesten/PaperSLARIM.PDF

http://www.thdl.org/texts/reprints/nepali_times/Nepali_Times_281.pdf

same source

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http://thdl.org/texts/reprints/nepali_times/Nepali_Times_178.pdf

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(Below) Kathmandu hotels eagerly add additional stories to concrete frame structures that will be severely stressed during a future Himalayan earthquake. The Kathmandu valley was damaged by severe shaking in earthquakes in 1255, 1833 and 1934. (from Hough and Bilham, After the Earth Quakes, Oxford 2006).

cires.colorado.edu/~bilham/Earthquakes2006.htm

www.bytesforall.org/8th/earthquake_nepal2.htm

www.geohaz.org/contents/projects/kathmandu.html

The size of tops go on increasing with each floor, and these houses are very common in Kathmandu, being more vulnerable to earthquakes.

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सुन सुन दाजुभाई हो म केहि भन्छु
९० सालको भुकम्पको सवाई कहन्छु
मनमा भजि हरि एकचित्त गरी
सबले सुनिरहु ।

पौस गयो माघ लाग्यो २ गतेको मिति
नक्षत्र पूर्वखाडा औसिको है तिथि
वेलुकाको २ बजे फेरि सांझ पहरा
लागि गयो कम्पिन जमिन थरहर
डगमग गरेर ।

कोई भन्थे मेरो मेरो भर्थे अन्न धान
सातै दीप कम्पिदा बिर्से तिनले ज्ञान
अड्डा र अमालमा गर्थे कच्चहरि
लाग्यो घोर कलि भयो ढलिमलि
डगमग गरेर ।

९० सालको भुईचालो सम्झिदै मेरो ९० वर्षिय हजुरबा बाट आजै प्राप्त आंसिक श्लोकहरु।

natural disastar is inevitable. we can't escape but we can act today to minimize the risk and degree of aftermath destruction.

Let us act today. Friends, if we all people here in sajha, i guess most of us living abroad recommend our parents or neighbour not to expand the house vertically but horizontally and prepare for the the aftermath. it will be a lot.
jayamatadi

http://asc-india.org/menu/gquakes-map.htm

This page displays select earthquakes in south Asia i.e India, Afghanistan, Bhutan, Bangladesh, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Pakistan & the Maldives that have been chosen on the basis of their magnitude or their reported maximum intensity. Running the cursor over any of the coloured dots will reveal the name, date & magnitude/intensity of a particular event.

Series of tremors hit eastern Taplejung

A series of tremors have hit eastern parts of Taplejung district on Wednesday.

According to reports, moderate to strong jolts were felt by villagers on Wednesday, which is said to have damaged dozens of houses and killed unknown number of cattle in around seven VDCs including Mehele, Khewang and Mamankhe.

As per the report by Nepal Television, Nilgiri secondary school in Mehele, too, has been damaged by the jolt. Human casualties, however, have not been reported yet.

The report said that on Wednesday, strong quakes – whose intensity in the Richter scale are yet to be known – hit the region at 10 am, 1 pm and 3 pm .

Terrified by the series of shocks and aftershocks, villagers are staying in open spaces, said the report.

Security teams is said to have been dispatched to the region to assess the situation and help the villagers. The affected villages lie some one and a half days of walking distance away from district headquarters.

Meanwhile, 23 persons were injured when lightening struck Thumsing village of Sindhupalchowk district on Wednesday afternoon. nepalnews.com sd May 16 07

http://www.nepalnews.com.np/archive/2007/may/may16/news18.php

Same day (May 16, 2007) , View/Share this post only

Somehow, the website saw me as trying to promote some websites; here it goes again about today's story of Bangkok towers being shaken by 6.1 Richter scale

http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/asiapcf/05/16/laos.earthquake.ap/index.html