Geologists warn of future earthquakes in Nepal region

Earth scientists have warned that the devastating earthquake that struck Nepal on 25th April, tragically killing thousands, may not be the end of the problems for the region. Earthquakes occur at fault lines (in this case the Himalayan Fault Line) between tectonic plates, releasing pressure that builds up as the plates rub up against each other. If there are kinks in the fault line such as sudden dramatic changes in direction then the earthquake will not carry past the corner. This means that an earthquake is only capable of relieving pressure from the one section of the fault line it emanates from. The larger the section, the larger the earthquake. Geologist Kristin Morell of the University of Victoria in Canada has warned that ÔÇ£The Himalayas are a very long mountain belt, and strain is still building up in all the other regions from Pakistan all the way to eastern Tibet.ÔÇØ

It is difficult to know exactly where the epicentre of the next earthquake will be or how powerful it will be because the exact shape of the Himalayan Fault Line is unknown due to large swathes of it resting many kilometres underground. However, one side of a fault line will tend to dip down sharply as one tectonic plate is pulled under another. This pushes the ground above it upwards, creating steeper terrain with higher levels of erosion and deeper cutting streams. By searching for these features, researchers have managed to find a very long, unboundaried section of the fault line in Bhutan, which has been building pressure since an earthquake in 1505. This segment is nearly twice as long as the one responsible for the Nepal earthquake and may be capable of producing earthquakes of magnitude 8 or greater, even larger than the magnitude 7.8 earthquake that hit Nepal.

Nepal was ill prepared for the earthquake that struck its capital city and emanated throughout the country and the Nepalese government has been apportioned part of the blame for the huge loss of life and destruction of irreplaceable, ancient monuments. The regions to the West of Nepal such as Bhutan must be prepared for any future natural disasters to avoid a repeat of this April when the next section of the Himalayan Fault Line relieves its pressure. In the words of Stanford University geophysicist Simon Klemper: ÔÇ£The earthquake I worry about is not the one that happened on [April 25]; itÔÇÖs the one that could be a magnitude 8.6 to the west.ÔÇØ