Ancient Collision Made Nepal Earthquake Inevitable

[Sagan]

More than 25 million years ago, India, once a separate island on a quickly sliding piece of the Earth’s crust, crashed into Asia. The two land masses are still colliding, pushed together at a speed of 1.5 to 2 inches a year. The forces have pushed up the highest mountains in the world, in the Himalayas, and have set off devastating earthquakes.

Experts had warned of the danger to the people of Katmandu for decades. The death toll in Nepal on Saturday was practically inevitable given the tectonics, the local geology that made the shaking worse and the lax construction of buildings that could not withstand the shaking.

GeoHazards International, a nonprofit organization in Menlo Park, Calif., that tries to help poorer, more vulnerable regions like Nepal prepare for disasters, had noted that major earthquakes struck that region about every 75 years.

In 1934 — 81 years ago — more than 10,000 people died in a magnitude 8.1 earthquake in eastern Nepal, about six miles south of Mount Everest. A smaller quake in 1988 with a magnitude of 6.8 killed more than 1,000 people.

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/26/science/ancient-collision-made-nepal-earthquake-inevitable-epochs-later.html?_r=0

[Sagan]

HUNDREDS OF CLIMBERS STRANDED ON EVEREST AWAITING RESCUE



More than 700 climbers are stranded on Mount Everest awaiting helicopters after the avalanche blocked off all access points.

Between 17 and 19 people were killed when ice and rock crushed the base camp on Saturday.

On Sunday morning, a fleet of six helicopters managed to lift 22 of the most injured climbers and sherpas to Kathmandu for treatment.





But bad weather, continued aftershocks, and poor communication has scuppered subsequent trips, leaving hundreds stranded.

The avalanche started on the nearby 23,000-foot Mount Kimori, which sent ice and rock speeding down the mountain towards the base camp.

Aftershocks, measuring around 6 on the Richter scale, have continued to pile snow on to the remaining trails, meaning it is no longer safe to attempt a climb down.


A desperate helicopter rescue mission is under way on Everest following huge earthquake-triggered avalanches, with one British mountaineer there speaking of a 'race against time' to pluck around 120 people to safety as food runs out.


Fear was etched on the faces of the climbers as they saw the cloud of snow and debris hurtling towards the camp in the Himalayas


Video footage shows climbers emerging from their tents to find the Everest Base Camp flattened

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3056573/How-amateur-video-footage-captured-dramatic-moment-Nepal-earthquake-hit.html