Case study: Nepal earthquake

Case study: Nepal earthquake

1. Key facts: stats

   • magnitude: 7.8Mw/ 8.1ms
   • 9000 casualties 21000 killed
   • 3.5 million made homeless
   • damage costs: $10 million

2. cause of earthquake

   • conservative plate margin
     • india and Eurasia plates pushing past each other and got stuck
       • created friction and when they finally shifted past each other caused shockwave of 7.8Mw

3. location of earthquake

   • about 50 miles (80km) from Nepal's capital Kathmandu
   • quite shallow 7 miles down (11km)
     • caused more destruction because of the earthquake depth
     • spread as far as Lahore, Pakistan which is 700 miles (1126km) from epicentre

4. other earthquakes in Nepal

   • 1934: Bihar
     • magnitude of 8.0, severe damage to Kathmandu
     • 10,600 deaths
   • 1988 earthquake
     • 150 miles south east of Kathmandu
       • 6.9 magnitude
     • caused 1500 deaths