2.

Mechanism and regional seismicity

Geologically, the Gorkha earthquake which is Mw 7.8 occurred on or close to the main Himalayan frontal
thrust fault and geographically near Barpak, a mountain village of Gorkha district (Fig. 1). The earthquake was
followed by many powerful aftershocks.

Fig. 1: Map showing epicenter of the 2015 Nepal Earthquake (IAEG, 2015)
The Himalaya is a product of collision between Indian continent and Tibetan Plate. The Indian continent was a large
island situated near the Australian coast about 230 million years ago. Then, the Indian continent started to move towards
north because there is divergent plate boundary between Australian Plate and Indian plate. The Indian continent was
collided with Tibetan plate about 55 million years ago and its northward advance slowed by about half. The Chaman fault
in the west and Saging fault in the east is the transform plate boundaries. While Chaman fault is a sinistral fault, the
Saging fault is a dextral fault (Fig. 2). After the collision of plates, many

thrust and faults were developed due to obstruction of Tibetan plate.

Main Frontal Thrust (MFT), Main Boundary Thrust (MBT), Main Central Thrust (MCT) and South
Tibetan Detachment System (STDS) are the prominent discontinuities. All these discontinuities are
imbricated faults of Main Frontal Thrust (MHT), along which the Indian crust is thrust under Eurasia.
(, De Celles et al. 2001; Bollinger et al., 2006) (Fig. 3). The northward convergence of India relative Eurasia is
estimated 40-50 mm/ year (Patriat and Achache, 1984) however nearly half of this convergence (20mm/
year) is absorbed by convergence across the plate boundaries, as shown from GPS
geodetic campaigns (Avouac, 2003). Moreover, this convergenance is also revealed by recurring
many small and big earthquakes i.e. Bihar-Nepal earthquake 1934 (Ms 8.2); Large Kangra
earthquake of 1905 (Ms 7.8); Gorkha earthquake (Mw 7.8).
The Gorkha earthquake is related with the movement in the Main Himalayan Thrust (MHT) and is similar
with large blind earthquakes (1805, 1833, and 1905) in the Himalayas because the author has worked with
Geotechnical Extreme Earthquakes Reconnaissance (GEER) team and could not found the surface rupture
which is similar with other researchers.

Fig. 2: Tectonic Features of Indian plate and its close Fig. 3: Map of large earthquakes in the
Himalaya with schematic cross-section
vicinity (Aydan, 2006 and IAEG 2015)
(modified after Sapkota et al. 2013)
3. Characteristics of Gorkha Earthquake
The Mw 7.8 Gorkha earthquake occurred on April 25, 2015 2015 (Baishak 12, 2072) at 11.56 am (local time) and
06:11:26 (UTC) on and around the main Himalayan Thrust at 28.1473 N latitude and 84.7.79 E longitude with a
hypocentral depth of 15 km (GEER 2015). This earthquake is followed by 386 aftershocks greater than local magnitude of 4 till
date (30 August, 2013) (National Seismological Center (NSC), 2015) (Fig. 4). Finite-source models for the mainshock show
unilateral rupture from the epicenter approximately 150km to the ESE. USGS (2015) model based on the teleseismic P and
SH body wave which is defined by a strike of 295 degrees with an 11 degrees dip. The overall dimensions are
approximately 150km along strike and 120 an 11 degree dip. The average and peak slips are 0.65 and 3.10m,
respectively, and the peak occurs approximately 80 kms ESE from the epicenter near the Kathmandu basin. The
scalar seismic moment is 8.1X1020 Nm corresponding to Mw 7.9. The majority of slip occurred within 60-70 seconds
of the onset of the earthquake. The kinematic model suggests that the rupture initiated with a fast rupture velocity,
slowing as it progressed into the high slip patch that extends from approximately 30-100km the spatial
resolution of the model is very coarse (GEER 2015).

Fig. 4: Epicentral map of the Gorkha Earthquake

(USGS 2015)
The recorded ground motion data in the middle of the basin (Fig.6) had a very low peak ground acceleration PGA= 151
cm/s2 and very long period (NSC ,2015). Unfortunately, the earthquake sequence is very poorly recorded by National
Seismological Center (NSC), United States Geological Survey (USGS) and National Society for Earthquake Technology
(NSET) in the Kathmandu.

Fig. 6: Strong motion record of Gorkha earthquake at

Fig. 5: USGS (2015) finite-source model from the DMG, Kathmandu
inversion of teleseismic body and surface waves.
 The ARIA team analyzed interferometric synthetic aperture radar images from the European Union's
Copernicus Sentinel -1A satellite, operated by European Space Agency to calculate a map of the deformation of Earth's
surface caused by the quake. This false-color map shows the amount of permanent surface movement caused
almost entirely the earthquake, as viewed by the satellite, during a 12-day interval between two sentinel-1 images
acquired on April 17 and April 29 2015 (Fig. 7). The surface displacement is seen as color contours, where each
color cycle represents 20 centimeters of surface motion. The contours show the land around Kathmandu has moved
upward by more than 1 meter. Areas without the color contours have snow or heavy vegetation that affects the
radar measurements. Moreover, this analysis is supported by the ground motion recorded by USGS in the Kathmandu
valley. The graph shows that the Kathmandu valley was uplifted more than 1 meter within 4-5 seconds (Fig. 8).

Fig. 8: Time Vs Displacement at KATNP_NQ_01 at

Kathmandu.

Fig. 7: ARIA Sentinel-1 Coseismicinterferogram DO19

4. Site Effects

The effect of this earthquake is very unique in the affected areas. The Kathmandu valley is always affected
by historical earthquakes so does this time also. The intensity maps from this event indicate higher intensity of
shaking in the valley (Fig. 9).

Fig. 9: Shake map of the Gorkha earthquake (USGS 2015)

4.1. Landslide and slope failure

More than 5600 landslides were triggered by this earthquake (Fig. 10) (Earthquake without Frontiers,
2015). Many roads and villages are affected. The landslides mainly involved near-surface regolith and
weathered bedrock, and appear to have mobilized primarily as raveling failures, rock slides and rock falls. Major or
disruptive landsliding is limited to a zone that runs east-west, approximately parallel between the lesser and high
Himalaya. There have been numerous reports of cracked ground in the affected areas especially in
GorkhaSindhupalchowkdisctricts (Fig. 11).
 ISSN 2392-4926

Fig. 11: Shallow landslide triggered by

Fig. 10: Mapped Landslide Intensity due to Gorkha earthquake in the Sindhupalchowk district.
earthquake (Earthquake without Frontiers, 2015)

4.2 Topographic effect and settlement damage

The earthquake damaged most of the houses in the topographic ridge. The perspective image shows the Damage Proxy
Map (DPM) overlaid on the terrain with the location of damaged buildings by the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency
(NGA) preliminary damage assessment, indicated by the red and purple dots (Fig. 12). It is clear that most of the damage
houses are lie in the ridge. Moreover, the study conducted by ICIMOD also clearly shows that the houses were damaged
along the ridge (Fig. 13).

Fig. 13: Settlement affected by earthquake in

Fig. 12: Damage Proxy Map overlaid on the terrain
the sindhupalchowk district (ICIMOD 2015)
with the locations of damaged buildings.

4.3. Liquefaction
Different parts of the Kathmandu valley show the ground failure and liquefaction effect. The author identified
following places in the Kathmandu valley with GEER team (Fig. 14). The recording in KATNP and DMG indicate that
the ground motions that resulted from the April 25 main shock were not strong enough to fully weaken liquefiable
materials and in most cases incipient or "marginal" liquefaction was observed.

Fig. 14: Ground failure and liquefaction sites (GEER

report 2015). Fig. 15: Sand boiling in the Imadol area (GEER, 2015)

There are many infrastructure including roads, bridges and hydropower are affected. The detail
assessment should be done to identify the damage and loss.
5. Conclusions

The Gorkha earthquake is very unique earthquake in the Himalaya because it has damaged heavily to the east
compared to west from the Epicenter. Moreover, the seismic nature of this earthquake is still mysterious for geo-
scientist working in this reason. The major earthquake effects include infrastructure and building losses,
landsliding, and ground failures including liquefaction and lateral spreading. It is very hard to explain the nature
and pattern of damage of the earthquake due to lack of sufficient ground motion data.

6. References

http://ewf.nerc. ac.uk/2015/05/12/nepal-update-on-landslide-hazard-
following-12-may-2015-earthquake/

http://www.geerassociation.org/GEER_Post%20 EQ%20Reports/
Nepal_2015/index.html
ac.uk/2015/05/12/nepal-update-on-landslide-hazard-following-12-
may-2015-earthquake/

http://www. seismonepal.gov.np/

http://ewf.nerc.ac.uk/2015/05/12/nepal-update-on-landslide-hazard-
following-12-may-2015-earthquake/
STUDY OF GORKHA EARTHQUAKE IN 2015 AD

A PROJECT WORK SUBMITTED FOR THE PARTIAL FULFILLMENT

OF THE REQUIREMENT FOR GRADE 12 SCIENCE IN PHYSICS.

Submitted by

Shristi Dumre
Class: 12
Einstein

Gurukul College
Bharatpur-9, Saradpur
Date:
 CERTIFICATE OF APPROVAL

The project entitled “Study of earthquake in gorkha 2015 AD” by Ms. “Shristi Dumre”,
Gurukul College , Nepal is here bysubmitted for the partial fulfillmen t of the requirement of
Physics in Grade 12.This project work has not been submitted in any other school or
institutionpreviouslyfor Grade 12.

___________
Head of Department

Ek Raj Paudel

Department of Phyiscs

Gurukul College
 RECOMMENDATION LETTER

This is to certify that the project work entitled “Study of earthquakein gorkha in 2015 A D” has
been carried out by “Shristi Dumre” as a partial fulfillment of Grade 12 in physics under my
supervision. To the best of knowledge, this work has not been submitted to any other purpose
in this institute. I therefore recommend the project work for appraisal.,

_________________
Head of Department (Signature)

Ek Raj Paudel

Department of Physics

Gurukul College

Bharatpur-9, Saradpur

Date:
 DECLARATION

I ,“Safal Poudel” hereby declare that the project entitled “Study of

earthquake in gorkha in 2015 A D.” under the supervision of " E k R a j
Paudel, Gurukul College Bharatpur-9 Saradpur”
presented here in is genuine work done originally by me and has not
been published or submitted elsewhere for the requirement of any
degree program . Any literature, data or works done by others and cited in
this project work has been given due acknowledgement and listed in the
reference section.

----------------------------------------------------

“Shristi Dumre”

Grade: 12

Email address: shristidumre59@gmail.com

Date:
 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I would like to express my special thanks of gratitude to my Physics teacher

- physics Head of department Ek Raj Paudel for their guidance and support
in completing my project. I would also like to extend my gratitude to Principal
Sir, T i k a r a m C h a p a g a i n and Vice Principal Sir, P r a t i k D h a k a l for
providing me with all the facilities required.

Name : Shristi Dumre

Class : 12
Section : Einstein
 ABSTRACT
The 2015 Gorkha earthquake occurred on April 25, 2015, nearly 80 km N-NE of
Kathmandu. The epicenter was in the Barpak village of the Gorkha district, and damage
was concentrated primarily toward the east of the epicenter. As of April 2017, 480
aftershocks of local magnitude 4 or above were recorded by the National Seismological
Center (http://www.seismonepal.gov.np/). The main shock of April 25, 2015 (MW 7.8),
was followed by a strong aftershock of magnitude 6.7 on the same day. Moreover, on
April 26, 2015, another strong aftershock of magnitude 6.9 struck central Nepal, and the
strongest aftershock (MW 7.3) of the Gorkha seismic sequence was recorded on May
12, 2015. Damage due to the Gorkha earthquake was attributed to these four major
shakings in central Nepal, which caused 8790 fatalities, 22,300 injuries, and affected 8
million people from 31 out of 75 districts in Nepal (NPC, 2015). The Gorkha earthquake
caused damage to both building structures and lifelines like road networks, hydropower
projects, and water supply systems. The Post-Disaster Need Assessment conducted by
National Planning Commission of Nepal highlighted that the overall loss due to the
Gorkha earthquake was $7 billion (USD; NPC, 2015). Fourteen out of 75 districts in
Nepal were declared as the crisis-hit areas by the government immediately after the
earthquake, as shown in Fig. 1.5. Seismic performance, lessons, and future insights
regarding the damage to residential buildings and heritage structures are reported by
Goda et al. (2015), Shakya and Kawan (2016), Gautam et al. (2016), Gautam (2017),
and Gautam and Chaulagain (2016). A summary of casualties and damage is presented
in Table 1.7.
 INTRODUCTION
An earthquake (also known as a quake, tremor or temblor) is the shaking of the surface
of the Earth resulting from a sudden release of energy in the Earth's lithosphere that
creates seismic waves. Earthquakes can range in intensity, from those that are so weak
that they cannot be felt, to those violent enough to propel objects and people into the
air, damage critical infrastructure, and wreak destruction across entire cities. The
seismic activity of an area is the frequency, type, and size of earthquakes experienced
over a particular time. Nepal is a country which is prone to earthquake. Nepal has face
many earthquake in its past years Gorkha earthquake in 2015 A.D. The April 2015
Nepal earthquake (also known as the Gorkha earthquake) killed 8,964 people and
injured 21,952 more. It occurred at 11:56 Nepal Standard Time on Saturday, 25 April
2015, with a magnitude of 7.8Mw or 8.1Ms and a maximum Mercalli Intensity of X
(Extreme). Its epicenter was east of Gorkha District at Barpak, Gorkha, roughly 85 km
(53 mi) northwest of central Kathmandu, and its hypocenter was at a depth of
approximately 8.2 km (5.1 mi). It was the worst natural disaster to strike Nepal since the
1934 Nepal–Bihar earthquake. The ground motion recorded in Kathmandu, the capital
of Nepal, was of low frequency, which, along with its occurrence at an hour when many
people in rural areas were working outdoors, decreased the loss of property and human
lives. The earthquake triggered an avalanche on Mount Everest, killing 22 people,the
deadliest incident on the mountain on record.The earthquake triggered another huge
avalanche in the Langtang valley, where 250 people were reported missing. Hundreds
of thousands of Nepalese were made homeless with entire villages flattened across
many districts of the country. Centuries-old buildings were destroyed at UNESCO World
Heritage Sites in the Kathmandu Valley, including some at the Kathmandu Durbar
Square, the Patan Durbar Square, the Bhaktapur Durbar Square, the Changu Narayan
Temple, the Boudhanath stupa, and the Swayambhunath stupa. Geophysicists and
other experts had warned for decades that Nepal was vulnerable to a deadly
earthquake, particularly because of its geology, urbanization, and architecture.
Dharahara, also called Bhimsen Tower, a nine-storey 61.88-metre (203.0 ft) tall tower,
was destroyed. It was a part of the architecture of Kathmandu recognized by UNESCO.
Continued aftershocks occurred throughout Nepal at intervals of 15–20 minutes, with
one shock reaching a magnitude of 6.7 on 26 April at 12:54:08 NST.The country also
had a continued risk of landslides. A major aftershock occurred on 12 May 2015 at
12:50 NST with a moment magnitude (Mw) of 7.3.The epicenter was near the Chinese
border between the capital of Kathmandu and Mount Everest. More than 200 people
were killed and over 2,500 were injured by this aftershock, and many were left
homeless.