THE NEPAL EARTHQUAKE OF APRIL 25,2015 M7.8 11:56 AM Saturday Morning

1. THE NEPAL EARTHQUAKE OF APRIL 25,2015M7.811:56 AM Saturday Morning Walter Hays, Global Alliance for Disaster Reduction, Vienna, Virginia, USA 

2. NEPAL: ONE OF THE GLOBAL EARTHQUAKE DISASTER LABORATORIES

3. NEPAL: COLLISION OF EURASIAN AND INDO-AUSTRALIAN PLATES

4. NEPAL: A NATION OF 27.8 MILLION

5. 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.

6. 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.

7. 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

8. KATHMANDU SKYLINE

9. TSUNAMI FAULT RUPTURE DAMAGE/ LOSS TECTONIC DEFORMATION DAMAGE/ LOSS DAMAGE/LOSS FOUNDATION FAILURE EARTHQUAKE DAMAGE/ LOSS SITE AMPLIFICATION DAMAGE/ LOSS LIQUEFACTION DAMAGE/ LOSS LANDSLIDES DAMAGE/ LOSS DAMAGE/LOSS AFTERSHOCKS DAMAGE/ LOSS SEICHE DAMAGE/ LOSS GROUND SHAKING

10. 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.

11. CAUSES OF DAMAGE INADEQUATE RESISTANCE TO HORIZONTAL GROUND SHAKING SOIL AMPLIFICATION PERMANENT DISPLACEMENT (SURFACE FAULTING & GROUND FAILURE) IRREGULARITIES IN ELEVATION AND PLAN EARTHQUAKES FIRE FOLLOWING RUPTURE OF UTILITIES GLOBAL “DISASTER LABORATORIES” LACK OF DETAILING AND CONSTRUCTION MATERIALS INATTENTION TO NON-STRUCTURAL ELEMENTS

12. INITIAL REPORTS:AT LEAST 480 PEOPLE IN 4 COUNTRIES (NEPAL, INDIA, TIBET, BANGLADESH) KILLED; MANY INJURED; POSSIBLY MANY TRAPPED UNDER RUBBLE

13. DAMAGE

14. SEARCH AND RESCUE

15. A COMPARISON WITH OTHER DEVASTATING EARTHQUAKES (in terms of casualties)

16. DECEMBNER 1920 HAIYUAN, CHINA EARTHQUAKE • DEATH TOLL ESTIMATED AT 273,400.

17. SEPTEMBER 1923 GREAT KANTO EARTHQUAKE: JAPAN • DEATH TOLL ESTIMATED AT 142,000.

18. JULY 1976 TANGSHAN, CHINA EARTHQUAKE • DEATH TOLL ESTIMATED AT 242,000 TO 655,000.

19. 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.

20. EL ASNAM, ALGERIA; 3,500 DEAD (OCT. 10, 1980)

21. 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

22. 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

23. EXAMPLE: GUJARAT, INDIA 20,800 DEAD (JAN 26, 2001)

24. BOUMERDES, ALGERIA; 2,226 DEAD (MAY 21, 2003)

25. DECEMBER 2004 EARTH-QUAKE/TSUNAMI: INDONESIA • DEATH TOLL ESTIMATED AT 280,000.

26. 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.

27. MAY 2008 EARTHQUAKE: SICHUAN PROVINCE, CHINA • DEATH TOLL ESTIMATED AT 88,000.

28. 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.

29. JANUARY 2012 HAITI EARTHQUAKE • DEATH TOLL ESTIMATED AT 220,000.

30. 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.

31. EXAMPLE: A TENT CITY FOR SURVIVORS AFTER AN EARTHQUAKE • HAITI (2010): Timely temporary housingduring a thirty day “race against time” to save lives and protect property

32. 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?

33. 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.

34. 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.

35. 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.”

36. 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.

37. 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.

38. 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.

39. FACTMOST OF THE 200 + NATIONS NEED EARTHQUAKE DISASTER RESILIENCE POLICIES THAT ARE BASED ON LESSONS LEARNED FROM PAST EARTHQUAKE DISASTER LABORATORIES

40. PREPAREDNESS • PROTECTION • EM RESPONSE • RECOSTRUCTION AND RECOVERY EARTHQUAKE DISASTER RESILIENCE ACCEPTABLE RISK RISK UNACCEPTABLE RISK BOOKS OF KNOWLEDGE • MONITORING • HAZARD MAPS • INVENTORY • VULNERABILITY • LOCATION DATA BASES AND INFORMATION YOUR COMMUNITY HAZARDS: GROUND SHAKING GROUND FAILURE SURFACE FAULTING TECTONIC DEFORMATION TSUNAMI RUN UP AFTERSHOCKS

41. 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

42. 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

43. 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

44. AN UNDER-UTILIZED GLOBAL STRATEGYTo Create Turning Points for Earthquake Disaster Resilience USING EDUCATIONAL SURGES CONTAINING THE PAST AND PRESENT LESSONS TO FOSTER AND ACCELERATE POLICY CHANGES

45. MOVING TOWARDS THE MUST-HAPPEN GLOBAL STRATEGYTo Achieve Earthquake Disaster Resilience INTEGRATION OF SCIENTIFIC AND TECHNICAL SOLUTIONSWITH POLITICAL SOLUTIONS IN EVERY NATION FOR REALISTIC POLICIES ON PREPAREDNESS, PROTECTION, DISASTER SCENARIOS, EMERGENCY RESPONSE, RECONSTRUCTION, AND RECOVERY