157 killed as strong earthquake jolts Nepal’s mountainous western region

Subject :Geography

Section: Physical geography

Context:

A powerful 6.4 magnitude earthquake, the worst since 2015, struck Nepal’s remote mountainous region.

Details:

According to the National Earthquake Monitoring and Research Centre, the epicentre of the earthquake was in Jajarkot district, about 500km west of Kathmandu.
Areas affected: Jajarkot and Rukum districts of Nepal, New Delhi and neighbouring areas of India.

Earthquake:

Earthquakes are natural geological phenomena that occur when there is a sudden release of energy in the Earth’s crust.
Epicenter: The epicentre is the point on the Earth’s surface directly above the underground point where an earthquake originates. It is the location where the seismic waves, generated by the release of energy during the earthquake, first reach the Earth’s surface.
Hypocenter (or Focus): The hypocenter, also known as the focus, is the actual point within the Earth where the seismic energy is released during an earthquake. It is underground, and its depth can vary. Earthquakes can have shallow hypocenters, which are closer to the Earth’s surface, or deep hypocenters, which are further below the surface.

Why is Nepal prone to so many earthquakes?

Nepal lies in one of the most active tectonic zones (seismic zone IV and V) of the world, making the country extremely vulnerable to earthquakes.
Large tectonic plates make up the crust of the Earth. These land masses, which contain entire continents, are in motion and colliding with one another all the time.
Earthquakes are common in Nepal which is situated on the ridge where the Tibetan and Indian tectonic plates meet and advance two meters closer to one another every century which results in pressure which is released in the form of earthquakes.
- A collision between the Indian and Tibetan plates has been going on underground for a long time which has accumulated tremendous energy due to which western Nepal is under the threat of bigger earthquakes.
United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) ranks Nepal 11th on the list of the most vulnerable countries to earthquakes and Nepal’s capital Kathmandu is one of the top cities prone to earthquakes.