Back to news
8 May 2015 | News

ICIMOD maps earthquake-affected settlements to aid relief and recovery efforts

1 min Read

70% Complete

Responding to a request from the Ministry of Home Affairs, ICIMOD has deployed a task force made up of GIS and remote sensing experts to map clusters of settlements in earthquake-affected areas. These maps are being used to aid in the deployment of relief materials to affected areas in need of urgent relief.

The team, based out of the ICIMOD headquarters, is using remote sensing imagery on Google Earth to identify and mapping clusters of settlements in earthquake-affected areas. The maps produced are being shared with the National Emergency Operation Center (NEOC) within the Ministry of Home Affairs as they are completed.

The settlement maps are available for download as .kml files, which can be opened in Google Earth.

The polygons on the maps indicate clusters of buildings across different districts; however, they do not indicate the type of building or the density of settlements. Proper field verification of the settlements still needs to be carried out, but these maps can be used a preliminary indication of the location of settlements in remote, earthquake-affected areas.

The team of experts has identified settlement clusters for eight of the thirteen earthquake-affected districts as requested by the government – Dhading, Dolakha, Kavrepalanchowk, Gorkha, Nuwakot, Rasuwa, Sindupalchowk, and Lamjung.

Stay current

Stay up to date on what’s happening around the HKH with our most recent publications and find out how you can help by subscribing to our mailing list.

Sign Up

related contents

Continue exploring this topic

11 Dec 2018 HIMAP
Mountains Matter in the IPCC Sixth Assessment Report Cycle

But things are changing. The Sixth Assessment Report (AR6) of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) will feature a ...

21 Feb 2018 KSL
Manual on Planning Management for Ecosystem Services Launched

The operations manual can be of use in most terrestrial environments of the world. Its purpose is to include ecosystem ...

10 Apr 2015 Atmosphere Initiative
NEC Secretary visits ICIMOD

Secretary of the National Environment Commission (NEC) of Bhutan, Dasho Ugyen Tshewang, visited the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD) headquarters on ...

23 Sep 2015 News
Upper Indus Basin Network Meeting

ICIMOD and its partner organisations of the Upper Indus Basin (UIB) Network — Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD), Water and Power Development Authority ...

17 Nov 2016 News
ICIMOD Party to Beijing Declaration on the Belt and Road Initiative

The First International Science Forum of National Scientific Organizations on the Belt and Road Initiative was held in Beijing, China ...

2 Jan 2015 News
International Conference on Mountain People Adapting to Change completed

ICIMOD, in partnership with the Government of Nepal’s Ministry of Science, Technology, and Environment, held ...

25 May 2015 News
Delegates visit community-based flood early warning prototype

A six-member delegation from UNICEF Nepal and Nepal Red Cross Society visited the prototype of Community-Based Flood Early Warning System (CB-FEWS) at ICIMOD Knowledge Park, ...

14 Dec 2015 KSL
Toilets Clean up Kailash Sacred Landscape

  The International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD) in collaboration with Community-led Total Sanitation (CLTS) Foundation and Central Himalayan Environment ...