THE NEPAL EARTHQUAKE

OF APRIL 25,2015
M7.8
11:56 AM Saturday Morning
Walter Hays, Global Alliance for
Disaster Reduction, Vienna,
Virginia, USA
 NEPAL:
ONE OF THE GLOBAL
EARTHQUAKE DISASTER
LABORATORIES
NEPAL: COLLISION OF EURASIAN
AND INDO-AUSTRALIAN PLATES
NEPAL: A NATION OF 27.8
MILLION
 LOCATION
• The quake's epicenter was 80
kilometers (50 miles) northwest of
Kathmandu, and it had a depth of
only 11 kilometers (7 miles), which
is considered shallow in geological
terms.
This earthquake, the worst quake
to hit Nepal (a poor South Asian
nation) since 1934,
collapsed buildings and houses,
leveled centuries-old temples and
triggered avalanches in the
Himalayas.
 KATHMANDU, THE
CAPITAL, DEVASTATED

The Kathmandu Valley is densely

populated with nearly 2.5 million people,
and the quality of building construction is
often poor
KATHMANDU SKYLINE
 TSUNAMI DAMAGE/ LOSS
FAULT RUPTURE

TECTONIC
DAMAGE/ LOSS
DAMAGE/LOSS DEFORMATION

FOUNDATION
DAMAGE/ LOSS
EARTHQUAKE FAILURE

SITE
DAMAGE/ LOSS
AMPLIFICATION

GROUND
LIQUEFACTION DAMAGE/ LOSS
SHAKING

LANDSLIDES DAMAGE/ LOSS

DAMAGE/LOSS

AFTERSHOCKS DAMAGE/ LOSS

SEICHE DAMAGE/ LOSS

SIZE, LOCATION, AND DEPTH
AFFECT DAMAGE
• The quake's hypocenter was only 11
kilometers (7 miles) --- The bigger,
shallower, and closer the quake is, the
more destructive it usually is.
• Witnesses said the trembling and
swaying of the earth went on for
several minutes.
 CAUSES
OF
DAMAGE

INADEQUATE RESISTANCE TO
HORIZONTAL GROUND SHAKING

SOIL AMPLIFICATION

PERMANENT DISPLACEMENT
(SURFACE FAULTING & GROUND
FAILURE)

IRREGULARITIES IN ELEVATION
EARTHQUAKES AND PLAN

GLOBAL FIRE FOLLOWING RUPTURE OF

“DISASTER UTILITIES
LABORATORIES”
LACK OF DETAILING AND
CONSTRUCTION MATERIALS

INATTENTION TO NON-
STRUCTURAL ELEMENTS
 INITIAL REPORTS:
AT LEAST 480 PEOPLE IN 4
COUNTRIES (NEPAL, INDIA,
TIBET, BANGLADESH)
KILLED; MANY INJURED;
POSSIBLY MANY TRAPPED
UNDER RUBBLE
DAMAGE
SEARCH AND RESCUE
A COMPARISON WITH OTHER
DEVASTATING
EARTHQUAKES
(in terms of casualties)
 DECEMBNER 1920 HAIYUAN,
CHINA EARTHQUAKE
• DEATH TOLL ESTIMATED AT
273,400.
SEPTEMBER 1923 GREAT KANTO
EARTHQUAKE: JAPAN
• DEATH TOLL ESTIMATED AT
142,000.
JULY 1976 TANGSHAN, CHINA
EARTHQUAKE
• DEATH TOLL ESTIMATED AT
242,000 TO 655,000.
EXAMPLE: 240,000 DEAD AFTER
“BULLS-EYE” EARTHQUAKE

• TANGSHAN, CHINA
(1976) EARTHQUAKE:
The impossible situation;
too late for a race
against time” to save
lives and protect
property.
EL ASNAM, ALGERIA; 3,500
DEAD (OCT. 10, 1980)
EXAMPLE: COLLAPSE OF HIGH-RISE
APARTMENT BUILDINGS

• MEXICO CITY AFTER

1985 EARTHQUAKE:
Timely responses
during a forty-eight
hour and thirty day
“race against time”
save lives and protect
property
EXAMPLE: SEARCH AND RESCUE OF
SURVIVORS IN COLLAPSED BLDGS.

• TURKEY (1999)
KOCALEI EARTH-
QUAKE):
• Timely responses
during a forty-eight
hour “race against
time” to save lives
and protect property
EXAMPLE: GUJARAT, INDIA
20,800 DEAD (JAN 26, 2001)
BOUMERDES, ALGERIA; 2,226
DEAD (MAY 21, 2003)
 DECEMBER 2004 EARTH-
QUAKE/TSUNAMI: INDONESIA
• DEATH TOLL ESTIMATED AT
280,000.
EXAMPLE: 230,000 DEAD AFTER
EARTHQUAKE/TSUNAMI

• INDONESIA (2004):
The impossible
situation; too late
for a race against
time” to save lives
and protect
property.
 MAY 2008 EARTHQUAKE:
SICHUAN PROVINCE, CHINA
• DEATH TOLL ESTIMATED AT
88,000.
EXAMPLE: 88,000 DEAD AS RESULT OF
NON-ENGINEERED BUILDINGS

• CHINA (MAY 2008):

• The impossible
situation; too late for a
race against time” to
save lives and
protect property.
 JANUARY 2012 HAITI
EARTHQUAKE
• DEATH TOLL ESTIMATED AT
220,000.
EXAMPLE: 220,000 DEAD AS RESULT
OF NON-ENGINEERED BUILDINGS

• HAITI (2010):
• The impossible
situation; too late for a
race against time” to
save lives and
protect property.
 EXAMPLE: A TENT CITY FOR
SURVIVORS AFTER AN EARTHQUAKE

• HAITI (2010):
Timely temporary
housing during a
thirty day “race
against time” to
save lives and
protect property
EXAMPLE: SURPRISE! DEBRIS FROM
JAPAN’S TSUNAMI NOW IN USA

• SENDAI, JAPAN
AFTER THE MARCH
2011 EARTHQUAKE
AND TSUNAMI: What
will happen to the
radioactive debris?
 LESSON: THE KNOWLEDGE AND TIMING
OF ANTICIPATORY ACTIONS IS VITAL

• The people who know: 1) what to

expect (e.g., strong ground motion,
soil effects, tsunami wave run up,
ground failure), 2) where and when
they will happen, and 3) what they
should (and should not) do to
prepare for them will survive.
 LESSON: TIMELY, REALISTIC
DISASTER SCENARIOS SAVE LIVES

• The people who have timely,

realistic, advance information that
facilitates reduction of
vulnerabilities, and hence the risks
associated with strong ground
shaking, tsunami wave run up, and
ground failure will survive.
 LESSON: EMERGENCY RESPONSE
SAVES LIVES

• The “Uncontrollable and

Unthinkable” events will always
hinder the timing of emergency
response operations, especially the
search and rescue operations that
are limited to “the golden 48 hours.”
 LESSON: EMERGENCY MEDICAL
PREPAREDNESS SAVES LIVES

• The local community’s capacity for

emergency health care (i,e., coping
with damaged hospitals and medical
facilities, lack of clean drinking
water, food, and medicine, and
high levels of morbidity and
mortality) is vital for survival.
LESSON: EARTHQUAKE ENGINEERED
BUILDINGS SAVE LIVES

• Buildings engineered to withstand

the risks from an earthquake’s
strong ground shaking and ground
failure that cause damage, collapse,
and loss of function, is vital for
protecting occupants and users
from death and injury.
 LESSON: THE INTERNATIONAL
COMMUNITY ALWAYS PROVIDES AID

• The International Community

provides millions to billions of
dollars in relief to help “pick up the
pieces, ” but this strategy is not
enough by itself to ensure
earthquake disaster resilience.
 FACT
MOST OF THE 200 + NATIONS
NEED EARTHQUAKE DISASTER
RESILIENCE POLICIES THAT ARE
BASED ON LESSONS LEARNED
FROM PAST EARTHQUAKE
DISASTER LABORATORIES
 •MONITORING ACCEPTABLE RISK
•HAZARD MAPS RISK
•INVENTORY
UNACCEPTABLE RISK
•VULNERABILITY
•LOCATION

BOOKS OF
KNOWLEDGE
DATA BASES YOUR
AND INFORMATION
COMMUNITY

EARTHQUAKE DISASTER
RESILIENCE

HAZARDS:
•PREPAREDNESS
GROUND SHAKING •PROTECTION
GROUND FAILURE
SURFACE FAULTING •EM RESPONSE
TECTONIC DEFORMATION •RECOSTRUCTION AND
TSUNAMI RUN UP
AFTERSHOCKS RECOVERY
PILLARS OF EARTHQUAKE DISASTER
RESILIENCE

Preparedness
Protection: Adoption and Implementation of a
Modern Earthquake Engineering Building Code
and Lifeline Standards
Prevention: Land Use Planning and Base
Isolation
PILLARS OF EARTHQUAKE DISASTER
RESILIENCE (continued)

Monitoring
Realistic Earthquake Disaster Scenarios
Timely Emergency Response (including search
and Rescue and Emergency Medical Services)
Cost-Effective Recovery and Reconstruction
 THE CHALLENGE:

CHANGING EXISTING POLICIES:

CREATE, ADJUST, AND REALIGN
PROGRAMS, PARTNERS AND PEOPLE UNTIL
YOU HAVE CREATED THE KINDS OF TURNING
POINTS NEEDED FOR MOVING TOWARDS
EARTHQUAKE DISASTER RESILIENCE
 AN UNDER-UTILIZED GLOBAL
STRATEGY
To Create Turning Points for
Earthquake Disaster Resilience

 USING EDUCATIONAL SURGES CONTAINING

THE PAST AND PRESENT LESSONS TO FOSTER
AND ACCELERATE POLICY CHANGES
MOVING TOWARDS THE MUST-
HAPPEN GLOBAL STRATEGY
To Achieve Earthquake Disaster
Resilience
INTEGRATION OF SCIENTIFIC AND
TECHNICAL SOLUTIONS WITH POLITICAL
SOLUTIONS IN EVERY NATION FOR
REALISTIC POLICIES ON PREPAREDNESS,
PROTECTION, DISASTER SCENARIOS,
EMERGENCY RESPONSE,
RECONSTRUCTION, AND RECOVERY