The earthquake of Nepal, tectonics side.

The strong 7.8 magnitude earthquake that hit Nepal on April 25, and the forty major aftershocks have caused many casualties and extensive damage not only in this country but also in the neighboring countries, India and China.

Depending of the flood of information and pictures on the media, I preferred to temporize to comment the tectonic side of this human tragedy ... by decency, I do not illustrate this event by documents containing photos of the victims.
 

This earthquake occurred as a result of thrust faulting on or near the main front thrust between the Indian plate subducting beneath the Eurasian plate, to the north. At the epicenter of the earthquake, 80 km away. from the capital Kathmandu, the movement of the Indian plate to the north-north-east is currently estimated at 45 mm per year, this movement leading for 50 million years in the uprising of the Himalayas range.
 

The location of this earthquake was intended, without being able to set the date ... based on the seismic gaps recorded and the  earthquake history marking the Himalayas range.

According to CIRES, "geodetic measurements indicate on the basis of these data that if an earthquake were to happen today in the central gap (western Nepal), it could cause a slip of 4 to 6 meters. These breaks correspond approximately to a M7,8 - 8.3 earthquake if the sliding area measuring 100 km NS by 300 km EW "... it is unfortunately the present case.

 

Kate Ravilious, a science journalist, had an article about it in the Cosmos magazine in July: "Kathmandu's earthquake nightmare - By Analysing fault lines in Nepal scientists hope to better predict the next big one. The problem is finding 'em, as Kate Ravilious Discovers. »
https://cosmosmagazine.com/earth-sciences/kathmandus-earthquake-nightmare
 

For the human and materials balances,consecutive to these earthquakes, refer to the media providing updated bulletins ... when writing the article, the death toll exceeds 3,300, and that of the injured 5,000  / Review temporary, because the remote areas can not be all joined.

Sources :

- USGS earthquake

- EMSC

- Earthquake report

- CIRES