Back to news
9 May 2015 | News

International efforts to identify post-quake hazards

2 mins Read

70% Complete

In response to the magnitude 7.8 earthquake that struck Nepal on 25 April 2015, the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD), National Aerospace and Space Administration (NASA), the University of Arizona, and their collaborators have coordinated an international volunteer team to map and assess hazards created by landslides, rockfalls, and avalanches. The NASA-U.S.Geological Survey-Interagency Volunteer Earthquake Response Team, which now numbers over 40 volunteers from eight different countries, has joined with the British Geological Survey-Durham University-Earthquakes without Frontiers team. Both groups use high-resolution satellite imagery made available by government and private sector agencies such as NASA, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), and Digital Globe, and international groups such as the International Charter on Space and Major Disasters to identify landslides that have affected villages and landslide-dammed rivers that could lead to severe downstream flooding if the dam is suddenly breached. Given the large loss of life and property during and after the earthquake, ICIMOD and its collaborators aim to provide knowledge that can help prevent future disasters in the affected areas.

A rapid analysis report about geohazards in the aftermath of the earthquake was shared with the Government of Nepal on 7 May 2015.

To date, the response teams have identified over 3,000 landslides, and assembled a database of over 250 identified landslides and other large mass movements, focusing specifically on those that were generated by the earthquake and its aftershocks or other secondary effects.

The NASA-USGS-Interagency team examined five events in particular that have either devastated villages or present a significant risk to downstream communities:

The BGS-Durham-EWF team has also identified a zone of widespread, intense landsliding that runs east-west, approximately parallel to the transition between the Lesser and High Himalaya. This zone contains numerous rockfalls and debris avalanches, which are individually localised but together have had catastrophic impacts on roads and villages.

The landslide database will be continually updated with new information from these teams as well as colleagues in the Chinese Academy of Sciences, and shared with local governments and agencies coordinating the delivery of aid and assistance. The database is available as kml files on the right side of this page under download box, and galleries of earthquake-related case studies and maps are available here, here and here. To assist with post-earthquake recovery, ICIMOD and the international scientific community will continue to monitor landslide-dammed rivers, secondary landslides, and the development of future landslide hazards as the monsoon draws near.

Contacts:

Joseph Shea
(ICIMOD; joseph.shea@icimod.org)

Greg Leonard
(University of Arizona; gleonard@email.arizona.edu)

Jeffrey Kargel
(University of Arizona; jeffreyskargel@hotmail.com)

Alex Densmore
(Durham University/Earthquakes without Frontiers; a.l.densmore@durham.ac.uk)

Colm Jordan
(British Geological Survey; cjj@bgs.ac.uk)

Dalia Kirschbaum
(dalia.b.kirschbaum@nasa.gov)

Nira Gurung

(ICIMOD;

nira.gurung@icimod.org

)

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

18 Aug 2020 News
Larger glaciers in the Hindu Kush are behaving like glaciers in the Karakorum

Findings from a recent study show that the larger glaciers in the Hindu Kush region of ...

4 Feb 2016 Climate change
Myanmar Journalists Learn Climate Change Communication

A five-day training for 20 Myanmar journalists on reporting climate change adaptation was organised by the International Centre for Integrated ...

31 Jan 2020 Cryosphere
ICIMOD releases new improved MODIS snow data for High Mountain Asia

Snow is a significant component of the ecosystem and water resources in the Hindu Kush Himalaya (HKH). Snow monitoring is ...

24 Oct 2018 HKPL
Bam-e-Dunya: a network to bolster conservation efforts on the roof of the world

This historic agreement lays the foundation for long-term collaboration and exchange to conserve fragile ecosystems and help mountain communities adapt ...

10 Jun 2017 News
Silently Marching for Lake Nainital

This year's World Environment Day, a day through which awareness for our natural environment is raised, was celebrated with much ...

12 Jul 2016 News
HIMAP Author Writeshop Held

HIMAP Author Writeshop Held Hindu Kush Himalayas Monitoring and Assessment Program’s (HIMAP) Coordinating Lead Authors' Writeshop was organised by the ...

10 Jun 2020 Cryosphere
Ice-dammed lake in Hunza created by Shisper Glacier surge breached for the second time in 2020

Clearly reinforcing the critical importance of glacier monitoring, an ice-dammed lake formed by the surging of Shisper Glacier breached for ...

17 Mar 2015 Atmosphere Initiative
Conference on alternatives to open agricultural burning

To discuss the extent to which open burning of agricultural residue and waste causes black carbon emissions and to explore ...