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Learning from the April 25, 2015, Nepal earthquake:

Mapping the deformation and site response

Learning from earthquakes: Every earthquake offers a learning experience,

enabling researchers to be prepared for future events. So is the recent pair of
large earthquakes that shook parts of Nepal and the northern Indian plains. Even
at the face of the tragedy that an earthquake brings along, earthquake scientists
must prepare themselves to go through its effects on natural settings as well as
built environment. The April 25th and May 12th, 2015 earthquakes in Nepal
present themselves as the two major post-instrumentation era events in the
Himalayan region and they provide an unprecedented opportunity to study the
earthquakes in relation to the seismotectonic settings of the Himalayan
convergence. Besides, these also provide templates to revisit the historically
documented earthquakes and their effects in this region that has witnessed
many events in the past. Through a specific project to facilitate field studies and
learning from the earthquake effects, the Ministry of Earth Sciences and the
Indian Institute of Science, have provided us the opportunity to learn from the
actual effects of a large Himalayan earthquake. This brief report presents our
preliminary observations during the field trip through the north Indian plains of
UP and Bihar to parts of Nepal that were affected by the earthquake. Our
observations are presented in the general background of the seismotectonic
setting of the Himalaya.

General background:

The May 25, Mw 7.8 earthquake in the Nepal Himalaya was not a surprise
as it occurred within the eastern segment of the postulated central seismic gap,
considered as a locked segment of the Himalaya, where the Indian and Eurasian
continents are converging at the rate of ~ 18-20 mm/yr (
2000). It is quite well-known that the present-day structure of the Himalaya has
resulted from the progressive underthrusting of the Indian plate, leading to a
stack of thrust sheets that get progressively younger, southward. In this
geometry, the oldest and the northernmost is the Main Central Thrust (MCT),
followed by the Main Boundary Thrust (MBT) and the Main Frontal Thrust
(MFT), all of which sole into the Main Himalayan Thrust (MHT) (Fig. 1). The
deeper part of the MHT is believed to be creeping smoothly while the shallower
parts slips episodically during great earthquakes such as the 1905 Kangra and
1934 Nepal events.
Fig. 1 : (a) Map showing large and great earthquakes along the Himalayan
arc (modified from Rajendran et.al., 2015). Several of the lower magnitude,
but significant earthquakes in the Jammu and Kashmir region havent been
plotted here(b) Shows the cross-section of the terrain, highlighting the HFT,
MBT and MCT

Fig. 2: Earthquake locations for the Mw 7.8 April 25th event, the Mw 7.3 May
12th event and their corresponding aftershock effects.
 Fig. 3: Preliminary moment tensor inversion solution for the Mw 7.8, April 25th,
2015 event. As can be noted from the slip distribution, maximum slip occurs
towards the East of the mainshock. This is consistent with field observations.

Thrust faulting near Kakani.

P.C.: Thulasiraman Natarajan

The segment between the 1905 and 1934 ruptures has not slipped in a great
earthquake in the historically recorded period and earth scientists had
forecasted that a large earthquake is imminent in this part known as the central
gap. The documented history also suggests of the occurrence of large
earthquakes in eastern Nepal (e.g., 1255, 1833 events etc.) suggesting that there
are other sources other than the MHT, identified as faults that splay off from the
MHT as well as the seismogenic mid crustal ramp structures. It is generally
believed that the 1934-type earthquakes originate on the MHT and the rupture
propagates southward, possibly showing up at the emerging youngest thrust, the
MFT. Such earthquakes are considered more devastating because they are of
magnitude 8 or above and they affect the Indo-Gangetic plains, where the seismic
energy can be amplified and also lead to severe liquefaction and ground failure.
Thus, it is important to map the limits of the southward propagation of the
earthquake ruptures in order to assess their hazard potential.

The 2015 earthquake was located nearly 60-70 km north of Gorkha,

between the major thrusts, the MCT and the MBT (Fig. 2). The earthquake was
followed by several immediate aftershocks, many of which were Mw > 5. As the
rupture zone of this earthquake was being affected by more aftershocks, a fresh
event of Mw 7.3 occurred ~ 150 km east of the main shock. Aftershocks
originating from both sources are continuing. Our studies of this earthquake
involve two components. One, modeling of the source in order to understand the
style of faulting, magnitude of slip and direction of slip using teleseismic
waveforms, which is not discussed here in detail. We extract only the final
results to suggest that the mechanism involved thrusting on a shallow dipping
fault of 7 dip (Fig. 3). The maximum slip was ~4.31 m and the rupture
propagated in an easterly direction. The second part involves field investigations
to assess the extent of damage and occurrence of any surface rupture as the
causative fault emerges on the surface. This brief report summarizes our
observations during the 1-week field investigations from May 16-24 that started
from Ghorakhpur (UP) and ended in Lumbini (Nepal) (Fig. 4).

Fig. 4 : Route map followed by the team during the course of the field work.
Field observations:

1. Intensity surveys:

In order to assess damage due to past earthquakes, that which lack any
instrumental record, intensity surveys are carried out. These surveys involve
researchers systematically noting down accounts of locals who experienced
the effects of the past earthquake and assigning a measure of the damage
based on the MSK/Modified Mercalli scale.

The motivation behind conducting these kinds of surveys for modern

earthquakes is largely to verify the damage patterns reported from
instrumental records (GPS, InSAR, PGA/PGV) as well as from modeling
studies (Seismic Waveform/ Moment Tensor Inversion).

Our study involved interviewing 31 participants, on the 25th April Nepal

earthquake, geographically spanning from the North Indian plains all the way
to the high mountain villages of Nepal (Fig. 4). The route we traced on our
onward journey was one through Gorakhpur in Uttar Pradesh to the capital
city of Nepal, Kathmandu through the border town of Birgunj with a stopover
at Narayanghat.

The questionnaire contained 22 questions spanning from type of building

construction, building damage and ground deformation to level of panic. We
assigned points to each questionnaire based on the match with the MSK scale
and provide a visual tool to assess the damage and destruction associated
with the Nepal earthquake. The intensity of the earthquake experienced at
each of these surveyed regions is colour-coded and plotted in Fig. 4.
The results of our survey yielded some very unusual findings.

a) The greatest damage was concentrated in the Kathmandu valley area.

The photograph shows a row of buildings that fell against one-another in

the valley adjacent to the Swayambhunath Temple in Kathmandu.
P.C.: Matthew Wood.

Sifting through the rubble. P.C. : Matthew Wood

 Destruction to a church in Kathmandu. The number of casualties here was ~47.
P.C. : Matthew Wood

b) Heritage sites such as Bhaktapur were brought down to rubble and

debris.

One of the most affected regions in Bhaktapur, Kathmandu.

P.C. : Matthew Wood
 The fallen alley - Bhaktapur. P.C. : Matthew Wood

Studying the style of construction in Bhaktapur was crucial to making

comparisons with the large number of standing structures in and around
Kathmandu. P.C. : Matthew Wood
c) Villages located near the epicenter and to the west of the extent of the
fault seemed to observe a lower intensity of damage.

One of the many multi-storeyed buildings that still stand tall in a village
within the Gorkha district of Nepal. The epicentre of the April 25 th quake
lies just ~60 km north of this hamlet. P.C. : Thulasiraman Natarajan

d) Southern Nepali towns show up only as a 5-6 on the MSK scale with a
progressive increase in magnitude towards the north.

This survey brings up a rather interesting point to consider the

maximum damage was actually observed far away from the epicenter
while epicentral regions seem to have observed only moderate damage.
Bias towards population centers has always been a problem in using felt
reports to locate earthquakes, and the 2015 event is a clear example. The
other aspect of damage is the site-specific amplification of seismic energy
which also give rise to biases in locating historical earthquakes.
 2. Damage to structures

A common observation in all the Nepali towns that our team visited was
that old buildings (>30 years old) collapsed either partially or completely.
On inspecting the materials used in construction we found that they were
invariably made of unburnt bricks with mud and cement (rarely) as a
binder. In some cases when cement had been used as a binder, there was
no bonding structure to the brick laying (no interlocking structures)

This structure near Swayambhunath temple in Kathmandu is a stark

example of buildings that have poor interlocking bricks layered using mud
as the binder. P.C. : Revathy Parameswaran

Several newer buildings also seemed to have collapsed due to ground shaking,
but on closer inspection we found that these buildings were constructed in
phases. For example, the foundation was laid with only a ground floor in mind,
but in the last couple of years higher storeys were added. The result of such poor
planning is that the structural integrity of the ground floor compromised during
the intense shaking following the earthquake, and the higher storeys come
crashing down on the basement. We examined the possibility of liquefaction of
the soft sediments which form the Kathmandu valley, though we observed no
such effects. However, a contemporary report by Geotechnical Extreme Events
Reconnaissance (GEER) has stated that there have been liquefaction events in
Manamaiju, Ramkot, Chagunarayan, Hattiban and Imadol; most of which fall
along the fringes of the Kathmandu Valley (Nepal 2015 April 25 Mw 7.8 Gorkha
Earthquake, GEER, 2015. Further the GEER reports of extensive landslides and
related failure from the northern parts, closer to the Higher Himalayas which our team
could not examine due to issues with logistics. As for the brick buildings, new or
old, poor design seemed to be the single most important factor that controlled
the damage.

Although this building seems perfectly fine from afar, a closer look reveals
that it collapsed over its own ground floor! The white square-inset has been
blown up to show a squished car beneath the structure. Thankfully there
were no casualties here. P.C. : Matthew Wood.
 This building is one of the many examples of how a single, poorly-constructed
house can damage adjacent structures. Note the girders used in the
construction of beams and pillars. Inset shows the effect of the quake on the
building and its surroundings. P.C. : Matthew Wood.

Well-planned buildings irrespective of their age remain standing with

only marginal external damage to plaster or small on the outer surface. In
fact, sites like Bhaktapur show this type of buildings standing while all the
poorly constructed buildings around it lie in its constituent elements on
the ground.

The brick-coloured building in the far-left was constructed as per the new
rules established for civil constructions in Nepal. It sustained little damage
during the April quake in comparison to the devastation down the same
alley. P.C. : Matthew Wood.
 It is imperative to point out that there was only nominal damage to roads,
bridges, electric poles, concrete culverts etc. The roads that we traversed
did not show any sign of earthquake damage, and even in the hilly towns
electric poles and lines remain intact.

Assessing the spatial variation in structural damage only reinforces our

observations from the intensity survey. Thus, towns such as Gorkha,
Mugling and Phujel, located near the western extent of the fault plane
showed much less destruction to man-made environment as opposed to
the Kathmandu valley area and Bhaktapur. Furthermore, damage to roads
was minimal and was localized to the eastern edge of the Kathmandu
valley. The damage from this earthquake once again reiterates the fact
that it was shoddy construction that was the real killer.

3. Damage to heritage structures

Akin to most of the flourishing civilizations in the world, a sizable history

of the regions physical and climatic history is recorded by heritage sites
and old temples. One of the most popular historical heritage sites in
Kathmandu is the Pashupathinath Temple. It caught the attention of
popular media mostly because despite major quakes like the 1934 Bihar
earthquake and 2015 Nepal events, the main shrine sustained minimal
damage. This sparked local awe and therefore, the media was eager to
feature this site extensively. For the same reason, our team visited the
site to examine the damages caused by the 2015 Nepal pair of
earthquakes. The only notable damage observed was in the main entrance
where the wooden pillar has detached from the brick-framework. The
outer walls have also developed some deep seated cracks.

The main entrance to Pashupathinath Temple

P.C. : Matthew Wood.
 Deep cracks on the construction along the outer walls of the
Pashupathinath Temple.
P.C. : Matthew Wood.

Adjacent to the Pashupathinath stands an old temple named Poonsva

Mahadev which the local population believes to be more than 200 years
old. The structure is currently also used as an old-age home. One of the
administrative personnel of this facility elaborated on the changes that
the structure had undergone due to seismic activity over the last 100
years. The structure had apparently sustained immense damage during
the 1934 A.D. (this is equivalent of 1990 B. S., Bikram Sampath, year in the
Nepali Calendar) Bihar earthquake. It was later restored. The April 25th,
earthquake affected it to a smaller extent, as compared to its 1934
processor. Based on the information we obtained from the local
population, neither of these earthquakes caused damages to the Sanctum
Sanctorum of the temple. Also, the May 12th, 2015, Mw 7.3 event left the
temple unaffected.
 Damage sustained by Poonsva Mahadev temple.
P.C. : Matthew Wood.

Fallen plaster and tilted shrine ornaments in Poonsva Mahadev.

P.C. : Matthew Wood.
One of the prime attractions of Kathmandu city has been the Dharara or
the Bhimsen tower. Based on the local knowledge, we have roughly
reconstructed the timeline for this historical structure. The Dharara is
believed to have been built in 1825 B.S. and stood tall at 11 storeys at the
time. The structure collapsed during the 1990 B.S. (1934 A.D.) Bihar
quake and was rebuilt to 9 storeys later. During the April 25th, there were
67-70 tourists within the Dharara and many perished. Local shop-owners
who work ~10 m away from the main structure describe the collapse of
the tower as follows

We were inside, at the farther end of the shop, when the shaking began.
We could not move. However we managed to somehow cross the length of
the shop (~2m) and head to the door. We saw the tower sway twice. And
then it collapsed completely in the next 3-5 seconds It killed almost
everyone inside

The dilapidated Dharara

P.C. : Matthew Wood.

The once mighty symbols of Nepal now lie in ruins. The ruins of their
iconic Dharara remain painful memories of the deadly quake. Despite
such overwhelming loss, the hardworking and strong-willed citizens are
at work, rebuilding their nation, with amazing resilience.
 One of the makeshift houses built by the locals along Balaji Road near
Swayambhunath temple in Kathmandu.
P.C. : Revathy Parameswaran

4. Ground failure

Admittedly, our trip to the earthquake-affected Nepal was overshadowed

by the reports of the visual media, which almost reported that most of
Kathmandu remains buried under the ruins. Thus we were prepared to
face situations where maneuverability within towns would be extremely
difficult. We were pleasantly surprised to find that all the major highways
were intact, and though we took a very roundabout route (Fig. 4) to reach
the capital, we hardly noticed any ground deformation or fissures on the
roads. Apart from the intermittent appearance of collapsed brick houses,
it seemed like most of the countryside had not experienced a Mw7.8 thrust
earthquake. Of course we were told that the picture is quite different in
some parts of the affected areas, where landslides have blocked the
routes and many villages were cut off. Perhaps, the fast paced relief
operations made it possible to drive through these narrow mountain
roads that are now cleared of the debris.

In the city of Kathmandu we did observe some landlevel changes and

evidences of fissures and ground deformation. The Araniko Highway (en
route Bhaktapur from Kathmandu) showed some remarkably consistent
trending fractures on either side of the road, with the central part of the
road slumping by almost 90 cm (information obtained from local
authorities). We were able to trace these cracks all the way into alleys
where they were lost in the foundation of buildings.
 Site of slumping on Arniko Highway. Continuous line shows visible
cracks while dotted lines are inferred continuation of structure.

To back up our findings, we conducted Kinematic GPS surveys on both

sides of the road so as to create a Digital Elevation Model (DEM) of the
surface and corroborate the findings of the local authorities.

One of the linear cracks cutting across the Arniko Highway.

P.C. : Matthew Wood
 From our own interviews of the locals we found out that the slumped part
of the road used to be a lake-bed many years ago, which was filled up to
make the highway. Therefore, the fissures seem to have developed as the
filled part yielded. Several extensional fractures including failure of
drainage pipes were observed on the flanks of this slump feature.

5. Microtremor studies

Damage to a city like Kathmandu, built on soft sediments is expected to

sustain severe damage. In the post-earthquake scenario, which suggested
severe damage at some parts of the valley and practically no damage at
other sites, we obtained ambient noise (microtremor) data from several
sites (eg. Balaji road, Kathmandu; Dharara, Kathmandu; Gorkha; Kakani
etc) using three component sensors. These data are to be processed to
compute the spatial variations of dominant frequencies and amplification
factors, and examine their control over the observed damage. However
the spatial variations in the intensity of damage needs to be explored with
further analysis.

Thulasiraman setting up a three-component sensor at a site next to the Dharara

P.C. : Matthew Wood

6. Visit to Shiva cave

Staligmites and other growth structures in the Himalayan caves are

considered proxies for tilting and breakage from earthquake shaking.
Siddababa Gupha, a limestone cave in Bimalnagar that displays the classic
stalagmite and stalactite formations, was another spot of our study. One
of our collaborators, Dr. C.P.Rajendran, had visited the very same cave 2
years ago and was curious to check if the recent earthquake had caused
 any disturbances to the structures in the cave. The climb to the cave
involved an increase in elevation of about 280m on a steep and tortuous
stairway. Our guide for this cave exploration was Bhim Singh, a local of
Bimalnagar, who was actually in the heart of the cave when he felt the
ground shake during the earthquake. Instead of running out, he just
remained inside and prayed, staring at the dark silence of the cave. As the
shaking passed by, Mr. Singh made his way to the mouth of the cave,
thankful that he was not crushed by detached roof of the cave. He later
checked and saw that nothing had collapsed, not even the most
vulnerable straws that grow from the ceilings.

.
The Seismology and GPS lab team from CEaS, IISc, accompanied by Harsh Lekhak at
the mouth of the Siddababa Cave. P.C. : Matthew Wood

7. Relief and rehabilitation efforts:

Relief and aid is still pouring into Nepal from various parts of the world.
We saw trucks carrying food, blankets, bricks and construction material
forming a long line at the border. In the affected towns and villages, tents
provided by Indian, Chinese and Japanese agencies had become make
shift homes for refugees and the locals alike. Most people appeared scared
to go back into their houses at night in fear of another large earthquake.
We also met some high-spirited and tough soldiers from the Indian Army,
involved in clearing the debris and rescue operations in Bhaktapur

Several people helped us in undertaking this task, which looked quite

arduous, as we planned it out, pitched against the ground reports and
another large aftershock that occurred just three days before our
departure. Mr. Sunil Kupperi, an Indian relief worker in Kathmandu
offered help in finding a place to stay. Juggling between the tasks of relief
operations and his own official duties, he found time to chat with us and
direct us to the most affected areas. The Nepali people themselves were
very forthcoming with information surrounding the earthquake and were
eager to assist us and learn what could be done to avoid this kind of
damage in the future. Mr. Rajat found us somewhat lost in the ruins of
Bhaktapur, and offered to spend the rest of the day with us, also
explaining the various activities, group prayers and community lunches,
slowly getting back to life. Mr. Harsh Lekhak, part of a Nepali disaster
mitigation NGO chose to join us for the next few days and helped us with
Nepali translation, as we passed through the villages, searching for any
evidence of ground deformation.

Part of the team with the Indian Army regiment that was posted in Nepal for
rescue and restoration operations. P.C. : Matthew Wood
Survey team from IISc:
Prof. Kusala Rajendran (Associate Professor at CEaS, IISc)
- kusala@ceas.iisc.ernet.in
Thulasiraman N (Ph.D student at CEaS, IISc)
- thulasiraman@ceas.iisc.ernet.in
Revathy Parameswaran (Ph.D student at CEaS, IISc)
- revathyparameswaran@ceas.iisc.ernet.in
Rishav Mallick (M.Tech student at CEaS, IISc)
- mallickrishg@ceas.iisc.ernet.in

Collaborative participants:
Prof. C.P. Rajendran (Scientist G, NCESS; Faculty, JNCASR)
- cprajendran@gmail.com ; rajendran@jncasr.ac.in
Matthew Peter Wood (Ph.D student at University of Melbourne)
- mwood3@student.unimelb.edu.au

This report was prepared by:-

Revathy M. Parameswaran (Ph.D student at CEaS, IISc)

Thulasiraman N (Ph.D student at CEaS, IISc)
Rishav Mallick (M.Tech student at CEaS, IISc)

- With inputs from Prof. Kusala Rajendran, Dr C.P. Rajendran and Matthew
Peter Wood.

Acknowledgements:

The post-earthquake survey by the IISc team at Nepal and Northern India
was supported by the Ministry of Earthsciences and the Indian Institute of
Science Bangalore. We acknowledge help from Sunil Kupperi and Harsh
Lekhak at Nepal. Furthermore, we particularly thank Matthew Wood, who is
also a professional photographer, for the vivid shots featured in this report.