I was part of the research team which went for field visit to Kathmandu and Bihar to investigate the effects of the devastating M7.8 Gorkha earthquake. There were primarily three types of buildings, namely Reinforced concrete buildings, Unreinforced Masonry buildings and Traditional heritage structures. We observed the damages in these buildings and some serious errors in building construction were revealed. This earthquake reiterates the fact that “Earthquakes don’t kill people, buildings do”. The probable reasons for the low peak ground acceleration (0.16g) causing severe damage, general flaws and remedial measures were also studied in this research work. The research is now published in Taylor and Francis : Geomatics, Natural Hazards and Risk Journal. The abstract of the paper is given below. The paper can be accessed from the permalink http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/19475705.2015.1084955
Abstract
The M7.8 earthquake of 25th April, 2015 caused widespread damage in the Nepal region by destroying many residential, public, religious and cultural heritage buildings and roads due to intense shaking, surface fissures and landslides. This earthquake provided an opportunity to study the vulnerability of the built environment and reassessment of the risk
exposure of the region. The reconnaissance trip was aimed at surveying the Kathmandu valley region in Nepal and adjoining districts of Bihar state in India due to their high population density and rapid urbanization. The observed damage in Kathmandu and the northern districts of Bihar were consistent with the intensity reported in these regions. Complete
collapse was observed in RC buildings and old unreinforced masonry buildings due to inherent structural defects in regions of MM intensity VIII and IX. Significant number of cultural heritage structures suffered partial to complete collapse. These observations provide a perspective on the widespread lack of preparedness even when the seismic hazard of the
Himalayan region is well established. This letter cites some of the poor construction practices that are followed in the Kathmandu valley region which make the built environment vulnerable to unacceptable levels of damage under expected design levels of shaking.
Presentation in 12th North Americal Masonry Conference, Denver, CO
Prof. Durgesh C. Rai presented a special talk on the performance of masonry and cultural heritage structures based on the field visit of the earthquake affected regions in Nepal and India during May 3-10 in this prestigious conference held at University of Colorado, Denver on 20th May, 2015. Click here to view the presentation
Some of the photos are below.
Bhushan Raj Selvaraj 
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