Unearthed lessons of 25 April 2015 Gorkha earthquake (MW 7.8): geotechnical earthquake engineering perspectives

Abstract

Gorkha earthquake (MW 7.8) of 25 April 2015 struck central, eastern and western Nepal and neighbouring areas. Enormous losses during Gorkha earthquake were attributed to collapse of 498,852 buildings, 446 public health facilities and partial damage of 256,697 buildings, 765 health facilities as well as severely affected 2900 cultural and historical sites. Anomalies were in particular observed in terms of localized damage and recurrent damages during 1833, 1934, 1988 and 2015 earthquakes. This paper reports geotechnical earthquake engineering observations noted during field reconnaissance conducted in affected areas. Damage reports from historical as well as recent Gorkha earthquakes are mapped in this paper. To depict lessons, forensic interpretations are presented considering 1833, 1934, 1988 and 2015 earthquakes.