February 10, 2025, Monday
Nepal 1:37:26 pm

Earthquake Safety Day: in memory of 1934 earthquake and earthquake safety awareness

Recent earthquake of Tibet should be taken as a warning of anytime big tremor in Nepal

The Nepal Weekly
January 14, 2025
Earthquake damaged Bhakatpur Durbar (1934)

The geography of Nepal situates on earthquake prone plates. Thus, the country witness earthquakes frequently. In every 100 to 8 0 year major earthquakes had occurred devastating lives, properties and invaluable cultural heritage.

The 1934 Nepal–India earthquake or 1934 Bihar–Nepal earthquake was one of the worst earthquakes in Nepal’s history. The towns of Munger and Muzaffarpur were completely destroyed. This 8.0 magnitude earthquake occurred on 15 January 1934 at around 2:13 pm IST (08:43 UTC) and caused widespread damage in northern in Nepal and Bihar of India.

The epicentre for this event was located in eastern Nepal about 9.5 km (5.9 mi) south of Mount Everest. The areas where the most damage to life and property occurred extended from Purnea in the east to Champaran in the west (a distance of nearly 320 km or 200 mi), and from Kathmandu in the north to Munger in the south (a distance of nearly 465 km or 289 mi).

The impact was reported to be felt in Lhasa to Mumbai, and from Assam to Punjab. The earthquake was so severe that in Kolkata, around 650 km (404 mi) from epicenter.

The three major towns of the Kathmandu Valley – Kathmandu, Patan, Bhaktapur and others – were severely affected and almost all the buildings collapsed. Large cracks appeared in the ground and several roads were damaged in Kathmandu.

The number of deaths was 10,700–12,000 with 7,253 recorded in Bihar.

The April 2015 Nepal earthquake (also known as the Gorkha Earthquake) killed 8,962 people and injured 21,952 across the countries of Nepal, India, China and Bangladesh. It occurred at 11:56 Nepal Standard Time on Saturday 25 April 2015, with a magnitude of 7.8M. Its epicenter was east of Gorkha district at Barpak, Gorkha, roughly 85 km (53 mi) northwest of central Kathmandu. It was the worst natural disaster to strike Nepal since the 1934 Nepal-India earthquake. The ground motion recorded in Kathmandu, the capital of Nepal, was of low frequency, which, along with its occurrence at an hour when many people in rural areas were working outdoors, decreased the loss of human lives.

Damaged by earthquake of 2015

A number of earthquakes had taken place after 2015 earthquake in Nepal. Some which occurred in western part of Nepal even took hundreds of lives.

The recent earthquakes in Nepal’s western parts have been taken as a symptom of big earthquake any time as experts say that there is a large amount of energy accumulated which can cause big earthquake. So people need to be alert and follow safety measures as far possible.

Moreover, the Tibet earthquake which shook Tibet, eastern part of Nepal, India, Bangladesh taking lives of 126 locals of Xigatshe turned as a warning as well.

The Indian plate in the south and the Eurasian plate in the north began to impact a huge number of years back, subsequent to the evaporation of the Tethys ocean in the middle of them. The impact procedure is as yet dynamic, and this crash brought forth the Himalayas, of which Nepal is the most imperative part.

The crash procedure proceeded over the years, and some major and minor flaws were created inside the territory of our nation. The investigation has appeared to significant three issues which are as beneath:

·     Main Frontal Thrust (MFT)/Himalayan Frontal Thrust (HFT)

·     Main Boundary Thrust (MBT)

·     Main Central Thrust (MCT)

Nepal seismic tremors happen as the aftereffect of push blaming on or close to the primary purpose interface between the subducting India plate and the superseding Eurasia plate toward the north. At the area of the tremor, the Indian plate is combining with Eurasia at a rate of 45 mm/yr towards the north-upper east – a small amount of which (~18 mm/yr) is driving the elevate of the Himalayan mountain go.

Nepal has a long history of earthquakes. The first documented earthquake event in the country dates back to 7 June 1255, during the reign of King AbhayaMalla. The quake, measuring 7.8 on the Richter scale, took the life of the king and wiped out a third of Kathmandu’s then population. Nepal has witnessed at least one major earthquake per century ever since.

The country has experienced a number of devastating earthquakes within living memory such as those in 1934 and 1998. In the 1934 earthquake more than eight thousand people lost their lives with massive destruction of property. The 1988 earthquake claimed 721 lives, mostly in the Eastern Nepal, and property worth millions of rupees were destroyed. The seismic record of Nepal suggests that earthquakes similar in size to the 1934 event occur approximately every 75 years, indicating that a devastating earthquake is inevitable in the long run and likely in the near future.

It is thus very important and essential to create awareness among the people as well as the policy makers about the consequence of such disasters so that steps can be taken to mitigate the impact of such disasters in time. Keeping this reality in mind, Government of Nepal at NSET’s request declared the second day of the month of Magh as National Earthquake Safety Day (ESD), annually in commemoration of the Great Bihar-Nepal Earthquake of 1934. Apart from creating awareness about earthquakes the theme of the day is to share knowledge and information about safety measures and disaster management.

Seismologists classify earthquakes below magnitude 6 as minor, those between magnitude 6 and 7 as moderate, and those between magnitude 7 and 8 as powerful. Earthquakes exceeding magnitude 8 are categorised as mega quakes. Energy capable of triggering a mega-quake remains stored beneath Western Nepal, and the recent tremor has played a negligible role in releasing it. Therefore, the risk of a mega-quake in western Nepal remains highly likely at any time.

The earthquakes measuring 4.8 to 5.0 are not of a magnitude that could cause significant damage. As a result, the tremors were only felt in areas close to the epicentre. While Nepal experiences up to 10 recordable earthquakes daily.

According to seismologists, there are seven major tectonic plates on earth, all of which are in constant motion. When these plates collide, earthquakes occur. The location where two plates meet experiences the most intense seismic activity.

So every year on 2nd of Magh Nepal celebrates the national Earthquake Safety Day (ESD). It is in fact the culmination of earthquake risk management works implemented in the country in the preceding 12 months, and allows taking stock of the achievements and shortcomings.

Recent earthquake of Tibet should be taken as a warning of anytime big tremor in Nepal 

After earthquake in Tibet (January, 2025)

A strong earthquake struck South Western part of China in Tibet on 7th January 2025 at around 9:50 Nepali time. It killed at least 126 people and left more than 188 others wounded. The epicentre of the quake was Shigatse, one of the holiest cities of Tibet.

After earthquake in Tibet (2025)

The United States Geological Survey said the earthquake measured 7.1 on the Richter scale, while the China Earthquake Networks Center (CENC) recorded a magnitude of 6.8.

The quake, just after 9:05am local time (01:05 GMT), shook the region of western China at a depth of about 10km (6 miles). The quake’s epicentre  was about 80km (50 miles) north of Mount Everest, the world’s highest mountain.

The powerful earthquake was felt in Nepal, Bhutan and parts of northern India. In Nepal which suffered from the earthquake of 2025 April, recalled the tragic situation.

It is noted that more than 600 aftershocks have been recorded the strong earthquake. By Wednesday morning, the China Earthquake Networks Centres reported that the region has more than 500 aftershocks, with magnitude of up to 4.4. After the Tibet earthquake, 852 after shocks have been measured from Nepal till Thursday morning. Among them, a dozen aftershocks are above 4.0 magnitude.

Earlier to that Nepal had experienced seven earthquakes in western parts of Nepal in 13 days.

Meanwhile, on Friday night at 11:37 pm, an earthquake of magnitude 3.7 occurred with its epicenter at Lali in Kalikot.

According to the National Earthquake Monitoring and Research Centre, an earthquake of magnitude 4.3 4.3 occurred in Bajhang’s Dhamen. Similarly an earthquake of 4.7 magnitude occurred on the 19th of January with the epicentre at Nasyang in Manang.

Similarly, an earthquake of magnitude 5.2 occurred in Bajura on Decmber 21st, an earthquake of magnitute 4.2 centred around Api Himal in Darchula at 9:25 pm on December 24th, and an earthquake of magnitude 4.2 centred in Nayakwad, Jajarkot on 26th December.

According to the department, on November 3rd, 2023, an earthquake of magnitude 6.4 occurred with Ramidanda in Jajarkot as its epicenter. According to experts, there were five aftershocks in West Nepal only after that earthquake.

An earthquake measuring 4.6 Richter scale shocked again on 31st December, 2024 morning at 7:54. According to the authorities, the epicenter of the earthquake was Nwaghar in Sigas rural municipality, Baitadi district.