Citation

Kargel JS, Leonard GJ, Shugar DH, Haritashya UK, Bevington A, Fielding EJ, Fujita K, Geertsema M, Miles ES, Steiner J, Anderson E, Bajracharya S, Bawden GW, Breashears DF, Byers A, Collins B, Dhital MR, Donnellan A, Evans TL, Geai ML, Glasscoe MT, Green D, Gurung DR, Heijenk R, Hilborn A, Hudnut K, Huyck C, Immerzeel WW, Jiang Liming, Jibson R, Kääb A, Khanal NR, Kirschbaum D, Kraaijenbrink PD, Lamsal D, Liu Shiyin, Lv Mingyang, McKinney D, Nahirnick NK, Nan Zhuotong, Ojha S, Olsenholler J, Painter TH, Pleasants M, Kc P, Yuan QI, Raup BH, Regmi D, Rounce DR, Sakai A, Shangguan Donghui, Shea JM, Shrestha AB, Shukla A, Stumm D, van der Kooij M, Voss K, Wang Xin, Weihs B, Wolfe D, Wu Lizong, Yao Xiaojun, Yoder MR, Young N. Science 2015; 351(6269): aac8353.

Affiliation

Antarctic Climate and Ecosystems Cooperative Research Centre, University of Tasmania, Hobart, TAS, Australia.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2015, American Association for the Advancement of Science)

DOI

10.1126/science.aac8353

PMID

26676355

Abstract

The Gorkha earthquake (M 7.8) on 25 April 2015 and later aftershocks struck South Asia, killing ~9,000 and damaging a large region. Supported by a large campaign of responsive satellite data acquisitions over the earthquake disaster zone, our team undertook a satellite image survey of the earthquakes' induced geohazards in Nepal and China and an assessment of the geomorphic, tectonic, and lithologic controls on quake-induced landslides. Timely analysis and communication aided response and recovery and informed decision makers. We mapped 4,312 co-seismic and post-seismic landslides. We also surveyed 491 glacier lakes for earthquake damage, but found only 9 landslide-impacted lakes and no visible satellite evidence of outbursts. Landslide densities correlate with slope, peak ground acceleration, surface downdrop, and specific metamorphic lithologies and large plutonic intrusions.

Language: en