Earthquake

In
Nepal

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

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We would like to express deepest gratitude to the Department of Civil
Engineering of Nepal Engineering College for providing us the opportunity to
prepare a report on “History of Earthquake in Nepal”, which will likely to be
very helpful for shaping our knowledge and career.

We would like to express our deepest thanks to our project supervisor Rosina
mall.

Lastly, we would like to thank everyone who was involved in this project and
preparation of the report.

Dipa malla (016-048)

Yogesh chapagain (016-146)

Aastha shah (016-003)

Abhay goit (016-004)

Asbin kandel (016-019)

ABSTRACT

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This work is based upon the study orientation and research. The was
allocated by Civil Engineering Department for the partial completion
of the Bachelor Degree in Civil Engineering. Earthquake causes lost
of lives and destruction of houses as well as other things. This all
should be protected by us. The civil engineers can save the society of
this destruction by building the reliable structures. The earthquake
don’t destroy everything but the structures we build do that.

The history of earthquake was studied. The history indicates what is

the magnitude of earthquake its time and year and its location. It will
be very beneficial for us when we can know the earthquake before it
hits.

Table of Contents
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT.................................................................................................................i
ABSTRACT...................................................................................................................................ii
Table of contents.......................................................................................................................iii

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1. Introduction............................................................................................................................1
1.1 Background and Statement of Problem......................................................................1
1.1.1 Landslide..............................................................................................................2
1.1.2 volcanism……………………………………………………………………………………………………………3
1.1.3 land subsidence …………………………………………………………………………………………………4
1.2 Objectives and Scopes......................................................................................................5
1.3 Applications......................................................................................................................5
History Of Earthquake In Nepal……… ……………………………………………………………………………………6
2. Literature Review.................................................................................................................11
3. Methodology…………………………………………………………………………………………………………..……12
4. Results and Discussions........................................................................................................13
5. Conclusion............................................................................................................................14
References................................................................................................................................15

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 1.Introduction
Nepal lies in an Earthquake region, as more than 80% of the territory lies in hilly and
Himalayan region. The Himalayan mountain belt represents a type example of an orogeny
formed due to collision of two continents plate i.e., the Asian & the Indian plate. The
mountain lies in a major global seismic belt where earthquakes of magnitude 4.5 to 5.5
occurs every year. In the region of Himalaya bounded by latitude 22°N to 38°N and longitude
72°E to 98°E, over 600 earthquakes of magnitude 5 and above have occurred during the
period of 1950 to 1990.

Fig 1.1: Collision of two continental plates

1.1 Background and Statement of Problem

Earthquake not only trigger landslides, tsunami, but over time, the tectonic activity causing
them, can create steep and potentially unstable slope. It is recognized that significant numbers
of landslides occur only when earthquake magnitude are more than 6.

Major problem experienced by the people in Nepal due to earthquake is landslide.

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1.1.1 Landslide

Landslide is commonly used to denote the downward and outward movement of slope
forming material along surfaces of separation by falling, slidind and flowing at faster rate. A
landslide has four zones:

 Zone of cracking
 Zone of failure
 Zone of transport
 Debris pile.

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

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1.1.2 volcanism
Earthquakes and volcanoes are inner related and usually occur on fault lines. Volcanoes can
produce earthquakes and earthquakes can produce volcanoes. 
when both are occurring at once from independent sources, the occurrences will depend
upon the geography and the soil type of the area. 

A earthquake for instance could fracture a dormant dome and change the direction or
magnitude of lava flow. 

Earthquakes are also accompanied by large plate movements. The place movements can cut
off magma passage ways and may even render the volcano dormant. 

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1.1.3 land Subsidence
Land subsidence can occur in various ways during an earthquake. Movement that occurs
along faults can be horizontal or vertical or have a component of both. As a result, a
large area of land can subside drastically during an earthquake. Land subsidence can
also be caused during liquefaction. Liquefaction can result in the settling and compacting
of unconsolidated sediment in an event of a major earthquake. This can result in the
lowering of the land surface.

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1.2 Objectives and Scopes
The objective of our report are:

 To know about the history of earthquake in Nepal

 To know about the effect of earthquake
 To know about preventive measures from earthquake.

1.3 Applications
The application of this report are:

 It can be used to know about the earthquake

 It can be used to be safe from the earthquake

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 History of Earthquake 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.

Nepal’s long history of seismic events is related to the movement of tectonic plates beneath
the Himalayan Mountain range one of the world’s most worrisome hot zpnes for earthquake
risk. 45 million years ago, the Indian continent collided into the Southern Tibet, pushing the
lightweight sediments upwards and thus the formation of Himalayas. Nepal sits across the
boundary between Indian and Southern Tibet which are still moving towards each other by 2
meters per century. This movement creates pressure within Earth, which builds up and can
only be released through earthquakes. This is the only way earthquake can happen in Nepal.

Written records of strong earthquake date back 760 years;

DATE PLACE MAGNITUDE

7 June 1255 Kathmandu 7.8
1260 Sagarmatha 7.1
1344 Mechi 7.9
August 1408 Near Nepal-Tibet border, Bagmati 8.2
Zone
6 June 1505 Near Saldang, karnali zone 8.8
January 1681 Northern Koshi zone 8.0
July 1767 Northern bagmati zone 7.9

26 August 1833 Kathmandu/Bihar 8.0

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7 July 1869 Kathmandu 6.5

28 August 1916 Nepal/Tibet 7,7

15 January 1934 Nepal/India/Tibet 8.4

27 June 1966 Nepal/India border 6.3

29 July 1980 Nepal/Pithoragarh 6.5

20 August 1988 Kathmandu/Bihar 6.6

18 September 2011 Sikkim, India 6.9

25 April 2015 Kathmandu/Indian/Tibet 7.8

Table 1: Histories of earthquake in Nepal

In Detail

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.

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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.

1810 AD 1866 BS

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.

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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 nearly destroyed.

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.

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1990 BS/ 1934 AD

Magh (January- February) Earthquake, Known as Great Nepal Bihar Earthquake struck the
Kingdom of Nepal and its 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.

Figure 1.2: Destruction of Darahara in Earthquake

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2. LITERATURE REVIEW
1. Different types of earthquake and its histories is preserved by
the National Seismological Centre, Lainchaur, Kathmandu.
They studied histories of earthquake as Historical seismicity
which they had been preserved in the form of history,
chronicles, inscriptions etc.

2. A business news outlet Quartz India has written that often when
an earthquake comes in Nepal, it almost hit half of the GDP
from its total economic. The economic rate decreases as there is
major stroke of earthquake in Nepal.

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3.Methodology
Literature Review
The different types of earthquake and its destruction are studied. The previous study
of the earthquake and their reports or datas are known as literature review.

Data Collection
Required datas are collected and studied by collecting the datas. It may be by taking
interviews, internets, books etc.

Data Analysis
The collected datas are then analysed. The datas are analysed if it is right or wrong. It
means the datas that are collected but different methods are checked from different
sources if the information provided are correct or not.

Discussion
The collected and analyzed data are then discussed among our team members and
teachers. Discussion provides us to come with a single conclusion. So discussing the
data with others is always helpful.

Conclusion

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 After certain analysis and discussions we can come up to single conclusion. This
conclusion can provide us an accurate answer regarding our project.

3. Results and Discussions

Based on the seismic record of the number of earthquakes that occurred since
1255, earthquake of magnitude greater than 8 occurred on average once in every
80 years and greater than 6 once in every 40 years. The earthquakes is repeated
in every 80 to 90 years. This causes Nepal to be in high risk of earthquake.

The earthquake destroys lives, houses, historical monuments. Earthquake is

natural but it becomes unnatural due to our fault. The people doesn’t check their
soil or due to the improper urbanization, the earthquake destroys everything.

Recently, the earthquake hit Nepal in 25th April, 2015 which affected millions of
people. Still the people are homeless due to earthquake. The recent earthquake
not only destroys lives but also our historical monuments. The oldest monument
Dharahara was also destroyed completely in this earthquake.

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5. Conclusion
In this way, through detail research and data collection we made this
report on history of earthquake in Nepal and its consequences. Direct
observation of sites affected by recent earthquake and indirect
observation of the past events were the medium to complete this
report. On the process of making this report we got to know that our
country is in a high risk of earthquake with a dangerous past and as a
student of civil engineering we are to search for reliefs in term of
infrastructures and basic building. We should contribute the society
with reliable structures. The structures should be earthquake
resistance to support as much small damage as possible. The damages
occurred during earthquake can be minimized by us.

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 References

[1] en.wikipedia.org. (n.d.). Retrieved from www.google.com:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_earthquakes_in_Nepal
[2] qz.com. (n.d.). Retrieved from www.google.com: http://qz.com/409484/the-economic-
damage-from-the-nepal-earthquake-is-almost-half-of-the-countrys-gdp/
[3] www.google.com.np. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.google.com.np/?
ion=1&espv=2#q=what%20is%20quartz%20india

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[4] www.seismonepal.gov.np. (n.d.). Retrieved from www.google.com:
http://www.seismonepal.gov.np/index.php?linkId=56

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