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The 2015 Gorkha earthquake destroyed key infrastructure in Greater Kathmandu and the surrounding earthquake‐affected areas, undermining the health status of affected households. As one of the disaster recovery policies, the Nepalese government distributed taxi permits to severely affected households through a lottery. Leveraging on this natural experimental setting, we examine the impact of the policy on their health status and access to health services. The results show that the treated households have fewer chronic and diarrhoeal diseases, and fewer doctor visits. However, we find no significant difference in the households' medical expenditure between the two groups. We also find that rural households with the taxi permits benefit more from the policy. The results of this study may provide policymakers with some insight to enhance their post‐disaster recovery strategy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper focuses on developing a model for the Indian region to simulate ground motion using the spectral element method. The topography, bathymetry, and the 3-dimensional material properties are available in the global database are considered for the region. The simulated model is validated by generating ground motions for the Nepal earthquake, April 25, 2015, which is one of the most devastating earthquakes in recent years, with a magnitude of 7.9 Mw. These waveforms of the earthquake's main shock and aftershocks are well recorded by the instruments available in the region. The uncertainty of the source is addressed by considering three slip models from global database. The simulated results are shown to be satisfactory when compared with recorded ground motions. The goodness-of-fit score is calculated for the synthetic ground motions, followed by the comparison with global ground motion models. The results achieve a scored of more than four, indicating a fair fit for ground motions. Furthermore, the developed in this study can be used for the generate time histories, which is useful for hazard analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nepal, identified as one of the world's most disaster-prone areas, has a history of frequent earthquakes. Despite its seismic activity and vulnerability to liquefaction, the Terai region lacks comprehensive studies on site characterization and liquefaction potential. This research focuses on evaluating the liquefaction potential of the Terai region's soil, crucial due to its high population density and the imperative to ensure the safety of engineering structures. In this study, in-situ parameters are utilized to assess the subsurface geology's liquefaction potential, encompassing soil characterization, soil liquefaction factor of safety (FS), and liquefaction potential index (LPI). Data from 284 boreholes, collected at 97 locations within the study area up to a depth of 20 m, offer insights into the Terai region's seismic vulnerability. Considering an earthquake scenario with a magnitude (Mw) of 7.8, liquefaction resistance was assessed at each location using peak ground acceleration (PGA) varying from 0.3 to 0.4 g as specified in NBC 105 (2020) for each district. The results indicate the LPI range of 0–57.85, with 34.02% of the Terai region classified as very high risk, 15.46% as high risk, 23.72% as low risk, and 26.80% as very low risk or liquefaction hazard. A hazard map is generated based on liquefaction potential, offering valuable insights for planning, management, and long-term development in the studied locations. This research addresses the crucial knowledge gap in understanding the seismic vulnerability of the Terai region, providing a basis for informed decision-making and risk mitigation strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One of the key activities during disaster response is distributing relief items to victims. This is a challenging task due to dynamically changing victim needs and disaster aftermath conditions. We model the distribution operations where items like tarpaulins and blankets are distributed by volunteers, to victims at temporary distribution areas called relief centers (RC). We investigate the impact victim movements have on the distribution performance. We model each RC as a queue, and the distribution operation as a generalised queuing network (G-network). We investigate product form solutions for the proposed G-network model, and prove a new product form result for G-networks with signals and batch transfer under certain conditions. We leverage this result to develop product form approximations that apply across a broad range of settings. We apply the G-network model to a case study using the Nepal earthquake relief distribution data, and quantify the impact of victim movement on network performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: The aim of the article is to enhance understanding of the phenomenon of humanitarian public diplomacy in relation to digital communication strategics. It aspires to grasp the nature of discursive practices and strategies of public communications used by practitioners of humanitarian diplomacy. The article analytically maps discursive practices and strategies of public communications employed by humanitarian international organisations across humanitarian crisis cases and explains similarities and differences across cases. Three contexts of humanitarian crisis were chosen as case studies: the humanitarian crisis resulting from the war in Syria (2011-2022); the refugee-related humanitarian crisis in the Mediterranean (2015-2021); and the humanitarian crisis that accompanied the Nepal earthquake in 2015. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Seasonal variations and common mode errors affect the precision of the Global Positioning System (GPS) time series. In this paper, we explore to improve the precision of coordinate time series, thereby providing a better detection of weak or transient deformation signals, particularly co-seismic signals. Based on 97 GPS stations, including the campaign and continuous GPS stations in Nepal and southern Tibet, we first consider seasonal variations and common errors, then obtain co-seismic deformation of the 2015 Gorkha earthquake in Nepal and southern Tibet. Our co-seismic rupture model is characterized by a shallow ramp and a deeper detachment fault, in agreement with the relocated aftershock sequence. Our results indicate that the earthquake rupture is mainly distributed in the upper-crustal fault, and the maximum slip is up to 8.0 m at ∼15.0 km depth located in the approximate-80 km east of the epicenter. The average slip is more than 5 m, and the total modelled magnitude is MW7.84, consistent with the observed seismic moment. Our rupture model for the 2015 Gorkha earthquake suggests that the rupture zone is not only in the upper crustal Main Himalayan Thrust (MHT), but also spreads to the northern segment of the MHT.

Abstract Background Natural disasters cause long term psychological consequences, especially post-traumatic stress disorders. It has been regarded as the most prevalent of psychiatric disorders after a natural disaster. The purpose of this study is to estimate the prevalence of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and determine its associated factors in adult survivors three years after the 2015 Nepal earthquake. Methods A cross-sectional descriptive design was used where 1076 adults within the age range of 19–65 were randomly selected and interviewed from four adversely affected districts due to the 2015 earthquake. Instruments included a demographic questionnaire, an earthquake exposure questionnaire, the Oslo Social Support Scale (OSSS), and the Post-traumatic Stress Disorder Checklist-Civilian Version (PCL-C). Descriptive and inferential statistics were applied using Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) Version 16 for data analysis. Results The prevalence of PTSD among earthquake survivors was 18.9%. The multivariate logistic regression showed that gender, ethnicity, education, occupation, social support and severity of damage to house and property were significantly associated with PTSD. Odds of having PTSD was 1.6 times higher among females (AOR = 1.6, 95% CI: 1.1–2.3) and nearly 2 times higher amongst illiterate survivors (AOR = 1.9, 95% CI: 1.2–2.8). Participants from the Janajati ethnic group and those who had a business occupation had a 50% lower risk of having PTSD. Around 39% of the participants had moderate social support and had 60% lower odds of having PTSD compared to those with poor social support (AOR = 0.4, 95%CI: 0.2–0.5, p

Disaster survivors are often criticised for being dependent on humanitarian (and development) assistance. This dependency is perceived pejoratively by civil servants and other elites, including non‐governmental organisation staff. Officials offered up such narratives in relation to the disaster response and recovery programmes following the Nepal earthquake of 2015. Using a Bourdieusian framework, and undertaking qualitative inquiry in four earthquake‐affected districts of Nepal, this paper contrasts the official narratives of dependency syndrome with people's perspectives and lived experiences. The findings problematise official discourse. Aid was frequently insufficient, poorly targeted, or non‐existent. Moreover, the Bourdieusian framing highlights the agency of survivors, as their habitus predisposed them to help others. It broadens the notion of assistance and dependence, suggesting that social and cultural (as well as economic) capital are vital resources for recovery. Lastly, it shows that dependencies are not necessarily bad. Greater attention to these non‐economic capitals and 'good dependencies' could expedite recovery from future disasters. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Transients in GPS time series can occur due to post-seismic deformation, seasonal hydrological loads, sea-level changes, flood and drought conditions, excessive groundwater withdrawal and recharge, etc. We report two new cases where the application of external loading, namely, earthquake loading and surface loading due to impoundment of hydroelectric reservoir, probably altered the local hydrological conditions to cause anomalous transients in the surface displacement. In the first case, moderate shaking due to the 2015 Gorkha earthquake at Patna (Bihar, India) caused transients in ground deformation in the following 50–60 days of the earthquake which are recorded by a continuous GPS site at Patna. In the second case, impoundment of the Tehri reservoir and its seasonal variations in the Garhwal Himalaya probably altered the local hydrological conditions which is causing anomalous biannual cyclic deformation at a site KUNR, near the reservoir.

Background: Natural disasters cause long term psychological consequences, especially post-traumatic stress disorders. It has been regarded as the most prevalent of psychiatric disorders after a natural disaster. The purpose of this study is to estimate the prevalence of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and determine its associated factors in adult survivors three years after the 2015 Nepal earthquake. Methods: A cross-sectional descriptive design was used where 1076 adults within the age range of 19–65 were randomly selected and interviewed from four adversely affected districts due to the 2015 earthquake. Instruments included a demographic questionnaire, an earthquake exposure questionnaire, the Oslo Social Support Scale (OSSS), and the Post-traumatic Stress Disorder Checklist-Civilian Version (PCL-C). Descriptive and inferential statistics were applied using Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) Version 16 for data analysis. Results: The prevalence of PTSD among earthquake survivors was 18.9%. The multivariate logistic regression showed that gender, ethnicity, education, occupation, social support and severity of damage to house and property were significantly associated with PTSD. Odds of having PTSD was 1.6 times higher among females (AOR = 1.6, 95% CI: 1.1–2.3) and nearly 2 times higher amongst illiterate survivors (AOR = 1.9, 95% CI: 1.2–2.8). Participants from the Janajati ethnic group and those who had a business occupation had a 50% lower risk of having PTSD. Around 39% of the participants had moderate social support and had 60% lower odds of having PTSD compared to those with poor social support (AOR = 0.4, 95%CI: 0.2–0.5, p < 0.001). Participants with medium and very high-level damage to personal property were more likely to have PTSD. Conclusion: Post-traumatic stress disorder remained prevalent amongst survivors three years after the 2015 Nepal Earthquake. It is important to provide psychological and social support for survivors to decrease the health burden from PTSD. Socio-demographic characteristics such as females, farmers, those survivors who endured significant personal property damage were at higher risk. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Journal of Geodesy & Geodynamics (1671-5942) is the property of Editorial Board Journal of Geodesy & Geodynamics and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

A monumental tetrastyle canopy (four columns topped by a hollow cap overlaying a statue), built in 1948 at the centre of Kathmandu, Nepal, has suffered full collapse during the April 25, 2015 Mw7.8 earthquake. Two video camera recordings let us recover the most important movements of the structure. At a distance of 2.9 km from the monument, an accelerometric station (KATNP) recorded the motion which we used as input of a model structure made with DEM. Geometry and dimensions of main elements were mostly obtained from satellite images. Concrete and steel in columns were considered as the common practice at that time. We performed some sensitivity analyses varying the mechanical properties due to the possibility of aging alterations in concrete and steel and to incorporate uncertainties on the geometric characteristics. Albeit the response has a significant variability, results show that it is possible to reproduce well the video images, attesting the importance of video cameras to capture the dynamic performance of structures, providing insight into their behaviour and data to support numerical investigations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Disasters can have substantial impacts on people's livelihoods in developing countries. Further, if the need for livelihood interventions is ignored or delayed, the crisis may trigger unexpected harmful consequences in the affected households in the aftermath. Therefore, restoring livelihoods should remain a priority in the post-disaster recovery process. However, such recoveries in rural contexts and developing countries, like Nepal, are complex as the livelihood restoration process is affected by serious spatial, socio-economic, and political factors. We employed qualitative research methods in four highly affected districts in the 2015 Nepal Earthquake (7.8 Mw) to examine post-disaster livelihoods recovery. Our paper critically assesses the humanitarian response based on the narratives and lived experiences of affected households. The findings show that humanitarian assistance was crucial in addressing several unmet needs of disaster-affected rural households in resource-poor settings in Nepal. However, the interventions were generally fragmented, insufficient, neoliberal led (forcing market dependencies), and largely business-as-usual in their orientation. Previous studies in Nepal paid insufficient attention to the goods provided to affected households in the name of recovery. Therefore, our paper scrutinises selected humanitarian objects, such as power tillers, and unpacks their political economy and effectiveness in local contexts. Further, our findings show that some livelihood policies reinforced the gap between the haves and have-nots, thereby reproducing pre-disaster inequalities in the post-disaster field. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Developing effective recovery plans requires an intricate understanding of the experiences of affected residents following a disaster event. We combined a self-organizing map (SOM) and hierarchical clustering to analyze community perceptions towards disaster response/recovery operations following the 2015 Nepal earthquake. A survey was conducted by the Inter-Agency Common Feedback Project (CFP) that includes six rounds of responses collected a month apart from the fourteen districts with the highest damage levels. The purpose of the survey was to identify gaps in disaster response, provide timely feedback, and enable stakeholders to address the gaps. Using the survey responses, we identified three satisfaction clusters among districts: 1) least satisfied, 2) moderately satisfied, and 3) highly satisfied. These clusters were used to visualize each district's satisfaction trajectory over the study horizon. Based upon their trajectories, we further classified the districts into three groups: 1) Recovering, 2) Not Recovering – Moderately Satisfied, and 3) Not Recovering – Least Satisfied. With the expansion of CFP's work across the entire humanitarian development cycle, the methodology highlighted in this paper could help stakeholders better understand the effectiveness of response actions to improve recovery planning.

In this article, I argue that local disasters are a global concern and that various transnational assemblages emerge during a disaster that support the suffering communities and help in addressing the issues of social justice in post-disaster situations. The transnational assemblages that emerge on social media create innovative practices (via non-western and decolonial ways) of creating communities across the world via crisis communication and distributed work to address social injustices during the disaster. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Journal of Geodesy & Geodynamics (1671-5942) is the property of Editorial Board Journal of Geodesy & Geodynamics and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Surface wave data from the 25 April 2015 Nepal earthquake of Mw 7.8 and its aftershocks recorded at 11 stations in India were used to estimate group velocities of both Love and Rayleigh waves. All stations are at regional distances from the earthquake sources. It is observed that the group velocities for both Love and Rayleigh waves obtained from mainshock data are lower than those obtained from aftershock data for stations located west and southwest of the earthquake source region. The differences are generally lower towards the southwest as compared to those observed for stations located towards the west. The differences decrease progressively towards the east, and when the stations are located close to the direction of rupture propagation, the group velocity obtained from the mainshock is either equal to or higher than that obtained from aftershocks for both Love and Rayleigh waves. Such variation in group velocity obtained from mainshock and aftershock data for different stations may be due to source directivity for the mainshock affecting the source group time, which in turn affects the travel time of surface waves at different periods. It was previously believed that source group time affects group velocity estimations significantly only at periods longer than 75 s and only when the focal depth is less than 25 km. In this work, we show that when the source rupture is unidirectional, group velocity estimates are also affected for shorter periods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Humanitarian supply chain (HSC) research is still in its infancy and remains an enigma, due to its profound differences with the much-researched field of global supply chains. Thus, humanitarian operations (HO) remain obstinately difficult to manage, despite attempts by key stakeholders to keep abreast of all the contemporary challenges. A key concern is wastage of disaster relief materials along the supply chain, which strains already scarce resources. Moreover, humanitarian research is plagued by a dearth of theory development and redeployment of existing theories from other fields, which are critical in enhancing methodological rigour. To address these gaps, we undertake an in-depth qualitative study which draws on data from humanitarian organisations that responded to the major earthquake in Nepal (2015). Using a novel approach, we adapt the theory of constraints (TOC) and dynamic capabilities to conduct our investigation. First, we apply TOC at an analytical level to unearth the constraints perturbing HO. Second, using dynamic capabilities as an overarching theoretical lens, we draw insights which contribute towards effective HSC management. To conclude, our study contributes by extending the dynamic capabilities theory for Lean thinking in HO. We achieve this by proffering 'sustaining' as a key extension of dynamic capabilities in HSC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is of great significance for emergency rescue to rapidly assess damage of buildings after an earthquake. Some previous methods are time-consuming, data are difficult to obtain, or there is lack of regional damage assessment. We proposed a novel way to rapidly assess building damage by comprehensively utilizing earth observation-derived data and field investigation to alleviate the above problems. These data are related to hazard-causing factors, hazard-formative environment, and hazard-affected body. Specifically, predicted ground motion parameters are used to reflect hazard-causing factors, e.g., peak ground velocity (PGV), peak ground acceleration (PGA), and pseudo-spectral acceleration (PSA). The hazard-formative environment is denoted by the underground 30 m shear wave velocity. Vulnerability of buildings is reflected by their structure type, age, and height. We take the April 2015 Nepal earthquake as a case study, and building damage data interpreted from satellite images are used to validate the effectiveness of the proposed method. Based on the gradient boosting machine, this paper rapidly assesses building damage from two different spatial levels, i.e., pixel and microzone, and obtains the potentially affected position and regional damage rate. Compared with the method of fragility function, the machine learning method provide a better estimation of the building damage rate. Compared with the assessment method based on remote sensing image, the method in this paper is very efficient since spatial distribution of hazard-causing factors, e.g., PGA, can be quickly predicted shortly after an earthquake. The comparison of experiment with and without vulnerability data of buildings shows that data on the vulnerability of buildings are very important to improve the assessment accuracy of building damage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nepal is vulnerable to environmental disasters such as earthquakes, landslides, floods and hurricanes. These disasters disproportionately affect rural life. Disaster risks are often approached in a purely technical and physical manner, but people’s behaviour in the face of natural hazards and disasters is influenced by various factors such as historical, economic, political and socio-cultural factors. This case uses a post-disaster resilience assessment focusing on cooperation during the recovery after a severe earthquake that hit central Nepal in 2015 which impacted rural communities. This paper analyses the people’s behaviour and its basic logic at post-earthquake recovery from a socio-cultural aspect focusing on the gaun, the basic minimal informal social unit. Special consideration was made to the ethnic heterogeneity of the communities studied. For the purpose of this study, key informants interview (KII), group discussion and transect walk were used. This study finds that gaun based local resources are traditional and primary resources for people’s daily life but the ward and VDC based resources are newly formed. Various forms of cooperation were observed regardless ethnicity at the gaun level. This study further reveals that local people’s activities towards the post-disaster recovery can be described in three periods. They are: emergent, resilient, reconstruction periods. On the basis of the study of these periods for post-disaster recovery, a very good social relationship among gaun people at emergency was realized.

We analyze retrospectively/prospectively the transient variations of six different physical parameters in the atmosphere/ionosphere during the M7.8 and M7.3 earthquakes in Nepal, namely: 1) outgoing longwave radiation (OLR) at the top of the atmosphere (TOA); 2) GPS/TEC; 3) the very-low-frequency (VLF/LF) signals at the receiving stations in Bishkek (Kyrgyzstan) and Varanasi (India); 4) Radon observations; 5) Atmospheric chemical potential from assimilation models; and; 6) Air Temperature from NOAA ground stations. We found that in mid-March 2015, there was a rapid increase in the radiation from the atmosphere observed by satellites. This anomaly was located close to the future M7.8 epicenter and reached a maximum on April 21–22. The GPS/TEC data analysis indicated an increase and variation in electron density, reaching a maximum value during April 22–24. A strong negative TEC anomaly in the crest of EIA (Equatorial Ionospheric Anomaly) occurred on April 21, and a strong positive anomaly was recorded on April 24, 2015. The behavior of VLF-LF waves along NWC-Bishkek and JJY-Varanasi paths has shown abnormal behavior during April 21–23, several days before the first, stronger earthquake. Our continuous satellite OLR analysis revealed this new strong anomaly on May 3, which was why we anticipated another major event in the area. On May 12, 2015, an M7.3 earthquake occurred. Our results show coherence between the appearance of these pre-earthquake transient’s effects in the atmosphere and ionosphere (with a short time-lag, from hours up to a few days) and the occurrence of the 2015 M7.8 and M7.3 events. The spatial characteristics of the pre-earthquake anomalies were associated with a large area but inside the preparation region estimated by Dobrovolsky-Bowman. The pre-earthquake nature of the signals in the atmosphere and ionosphere was revealed by simultaneous analysis of satellite, GPS/TEC, and VLF/LF and suggest that they follow a general temporal-spatial evolution pattern that has been seen in other large earthquakes worldwide.

Objectives: After the Nepal earthquake in 2015, for the first time, the Emergency Medical Team Coordination Cell (EMTCC) was activated. This study aims to evaluate the emergency medical team (EMT) coordination in the aftermath of the Nepal earthquake in 2015. Methods: This is a retrospective study that (a) describes the coordination process in Nepal, and (b) reviews and analyzes the EMT database in Nepal to classify the EMTs based on the World Health Organization (WHO) EMT classification, an online survey for EMT coordination, and the Geographic Information System-analyzed EMT distribution. Results: We recorded 150 EMTs, which included 29 Type 1-Mobile, 71 Type 1-Fixed, 22 Type 2, 1 Type 3, and 27 specialist cell recorded EMTs including the military team. The EMTs were allocated based on the number of casualties in that area. The Type 1 EMTs were deployed around Type 2 EMTs. Conclusions: The EMT Classification is useful for the effective posting of EMTs. However, the method of onsite multi registration has room for improvement. The WHO should provide an opportunity for EMTCC training for better coordination of disasters. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The poor and vulnerable people are the most affected in any disaster and find recovery extremely challenging. After the 2015 Nepal earthquake, the need for inclusive and targeted policy provisions and socio-technical facilitation was well identified. Nepal's post-earthquake housing reconstruction is world's largest owner driven reconstruction program under which nearly 700,000 houses are being constructed. This paper examines policies, and implementation mechanisms for ensuring social inclusion in this post-earthquake housing reconstruction process in Nepal, specifically examining provisions and delivery mechanisms for finance, land, design and technology for addressing recovery needs of the most vulnerable houseowners in terms of achievements, effectiveness, and challenges of implementation. The paper uses mixed methodology and is informed by the primary survey data of 26,912 houseowners in eight municipalities of the Gorkha district and overall reconstruction data from National Reconstruction Authority and other relevant sources of the Government of Nepal. Data is analysed and interpreted to gain insights on the specific issues of the poor and vulnerable. Top-up grant assistance and subsidized loan scheme have not yet benefited the vulnerable households despite the policy provisions. At the same time, housing reconstruction process in Nepal has helped a significant number of landless households get ownership of homestead land, which is a remarkable achievement. Shift in building typologies needs to be deliberated in context of affordability, sustainability and disaster risk reduction in the future. While policy provisions are the first step for the inclusion of the vulnerable, the desired outcome is difficult and challenging to achieve without enabling environment for their own agency and targeted socio-technical facilitation. Experience of post disaster housing reconstruction in Nepal strengthens our understanding of ‘owner driven reconstruction’ to make it more inclusive.

The main objective of this study is to empirically analyze the effectiveness of various coping strategies adopted by the household after the 2015 earthquake in Nepal. The study uses empirical approach exploiting treatment-control and before-after design for analytical purpose. The study finds that the households in the earthquake affected areas are recovering their livelihood. The most important ex-post coping strategies were remittances followed by borrowing and sale of assets. The effectiveness exercise, however, identified remittances as the only effective coping strategy that helped households recover their livelihood in the post-earthquake Nepal.

Multiple parameters (brightness temperature, soil moisture, surface latent heat flux, surface air temperature and carbon monoxide) before and after the 2015 Nepal M7.8 Gorkha main earthquake and M7.3 Dolakha aftershock were analysed using satellite observation data. The thermal anomalies from optical and microwave data appear about two months prior to the 2015 Gorkha earthquake. Some of the parameters show anomalous changes at different altitudes about 20 days prior to the main earthquake event and 10 days prior to the strong aftershock. Our results show that pre-earthquake anomalous signals propagate from the in situ to the top of atmosphere, and the anomalies in the atmosphere often observed prior to an impending earthquake. The changes on the land surface and corresponding changes in meteorological and atmospheric parameters show existence of strong coupling during the seismogenic period, although the transfer mechanism of seismic/electromagnetic is still has to be investigated and understood.

Abstract Background Following the Nepal earthquake in April 2015, UNFPA estimated that 1.4 million women of reproductive age were affected, with approximately 93,000 pregnant and 28,000 at risk of sexual violence. A set of priority reproductive health (RH) actions, the Minimum Initial Services Package (MISP), was initiated by government, international and local actors. The purpose of this study was to identify the facilitators and barriers affecting the implementation of priority RH services in two districts. Methods In September 2015, a mixed methods study design was used in Kathmandu and Sindhupalchowk districts to assess the implementation of the priority RH services five months post-earthquake. Data collection activities included 32 focus group discussions with male and female participants aged 18–49; 26 key informant interviews with RH, gender-based violence (GBV), and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) experts; and 17 health facility assessments. Results The implementation of priority RH services was achieved in both districts. In Kathmandu implementation of emergency RH services started within days of the earthquake. Facilitating factors for successful implementation included disaster preparedness; leadership and commitment among national, international, and district level actors; resource mobilization; strong national level coordination; existing reproductive and child health services and community outreach programs; and supply chain management. Barriers included inadequate MISP training for RH coordinators and managers; weak communication between national and district level stakeholders; inadequate staffing; under-resourced and fewer facilities in rural areas; limited attention given to local GBV and HIV organizations; low availability of clinical management of rape services; and low awareness of GBV services and benefits of timely care. Conclusion Ensuring RH is included in emergency preparedness and immediate response efforts and is continued through the transition to comprehensive care is critical for national governments and humanitarian response agencies. The MISP for RH remains a critical component of response efforts, and the humanitarian community should consider these learnings in future emergency response.

Purpose – Relief item distribution to victims is a key activity during disaster response. Currently many humanitarian organizations follow simple guidelines based on experience to assess need and distribute relief supplies. However, the interviews with practitioners suggest a problem in efficiency in relief distribution efforts. The purpose of this paper is to develop a model and solution methodology that can estimate relief center (RC) performance, measured by waiting time for victims and throughput, for any RC design and analyze the impact of key design decisions on these performance measures. Design/methodology/approach – Interviews with practitioners and current practice guidelines are used to understand relief distribution and a queuing network model is used to represent the relief distribution. Finally, the model is applied to data from the 2015 Nepal earthquake. Findings – The findings identify that dissipating congestion created by crowds, varying item assignment decisions to points of distribution, limiting the physical RC capacity to control congestion and using triage queue to balance distribution times, are effective strategies that can improve RC performance. Research limitations/implications – This research bases the RC designs on Federal Emergency Management Agency guidelines and assumes a certain area and volunteer availability. Originality/value – This paper contributes to humanitarian logistics by discussing useful insights that can impact how relief agencies set up and operate RCs. It also contributes to the queuing literature by deriving analytic solutions for the steady state probabilities of finite capacity, state dependent queues with blocking.

Rebuilding and repairing damaged physical infrastructure is a primary source of disaster aid spending following major earthquakes. Although aid distribution is monitored, it is not well understood how economic support and technical assistance affect reconstruction behavior. This study develops and evaluates a Bayesian item response theory modeling framework for estimating the probability of reconstructive action from household-level survey data. Household responses on reconstruction status, aid received, and willingness to commit additional resources from Inter-Agency Common Feedback Project surveys (n = 5,913) collected eleven, twelve, and fourteen months after the Gorkha, Nepal, earthquake are used to estimate the probability of reconstructive action. Results show differences in marginal reconstruction probabilities ranging from 2 to 78 percent across varying combinations of aid receipt and household willingness to commit additional resources. Estimated reconstruction probabilities are lowest for households with low willingness to commit additional resources and households that have not received a reconstruction-related engineering consultation. All model results showed strong variability with geographic location. These findings provide detailed quantitative estimates of earthquake recovery that have not previously been available and offer a promising methodology for using future postdisaster household-level survey data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Mountain Research (10082786) is the property of Mountain Research Editorial Office and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

To explore the ionospheric coupling mechanism, the total electron contents (TECs) and slant TECs (STECs) were processed from GPS sites in China, Nepal and India, and the singular spectrum analysis (SSA) method was introduced to investigate the seismic-ionospheric signals prior to the Mw7.8 Nepal earthquake on April 25, 2015. The results of pre-earthquake ionospheric anomaly show that there were obviously positive on 2nd day and negative anomalies on 14th day prior to the earthquake, respectively. The radius of anomalous area with a regular elliptical shape reached 2500 km and 2000 km in the above days respectively, which was close to the radius of Nepal earthquake. After excluding the moving effects of ionosphere hump, the investigation by the global ionosphere maps (GIMs) shows that a wide TEC abnormality appeared over the epicenter and conjugated region with the duration of 12 hr. Besides, the magnitude of TEC anomalies impending the shock, with its peaks happening at the midday (local time), was proportional to the number of days prior to the occurrence. By using the STECs within seismogenic zone, we further studied the coseismic ionospheric disturbance (CID) of Nepal earthquake. The results show that two modes of CID propagation velocity have been detected. Due to the TEC respond of Rayleigh wave, one mode had average propagating speed of 1.3 km/s in the near-field within 800 km, and gradually reaching up to 2.7 km/s in the far-field beyond 2000 km. Another mode had average propagating speed of 0.6 km/s only existing in the near-field, which was in accordance with the speed of shock acoustic waves. Besides, CID intensity presented the obvious directional difference. The ambient magnetic field around the epicenter made it easier for CID to spread in the southward direction, the plateau topography also prohibited the propagation of ionospheric disturbance, and most CID points were detected along the southeast direction of the epicenter which is consistent with the rupture propagation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Two significant institutional developments occurred in the aftermath of the major earthquakes that struck Nepal in 2015: a new national constitution was drafted and promulgated and a National Reconstruction Authority was established. The constitution had been promised for over seven years, and was now completed within just over three months, while it took seven months for a Bill establishing the NRA to be passed in parliament. Many commentators have posited a direct causal relationship between the earthquake and the 'fast-tracking' of what was in certain respects a contentious constitution. Drawing upon conversations and interviews conducted in Nepal over the winter of 2017–18 and a close reading of media discourse and political analysis from 2015, this article will examine and assess the extent of this supposed causality. Given that the most radical and contentious change ushered in by the new constitution was the introduction of a federal structure for the state, particular attention will be paid to the evolution of the debate on this issue. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents an investigation of the collapse of a 325-year-old multi-tiered heritage temple during the 2015 Gorkha earthquake in Kathmandu, Nepal. The research comprises a reconnaissance survey followed by a geotechnical investigation and numerical back-analysis carried out to understand the potential causes of the collapse. The assessment of the structural configuration of the temple indicated seismic vulnerability in the design due to the presence of discontinuous columns over the height of the temple and age-weakened bonding in the masonry walls. The geotechnical investigation revealed the presence of competent soil strata at the location, assisting the survey which indicated no differential or excessive settlement in the foundation. A series of cyclic triaxial tests were conducted on samples recovered during the geotechnical investigation to determine dynamic behaviour of the soil. Further, dynamic analysis of the plinth of the temple under the recorded acceleration–time history indicated a maximum drift percentage of 1.4% and residual relative displacement of 32 mm suggesting the potential reason behind the collapse. The output of this research will support seismic rehabilitation of ancient structures within World Heritage sites across Nepal and effective action plans to safeguard them against future earthquake hazard. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We use ALOS-2 and Sentinel-1 data spanning 2015–2020 to obtain the post-seismic deformation of the 2015 Mw 7.8 Nepal earthquake. ALOS-2 observations reveal that the post-seismic deformation was mainly distributed in four areas. A large-scale uplift deformation occurred in the northern subsidence area of the co-seismic deformation field, with a maximum uplift of ~80 mm within 4.5 yr after the mainshock. While in the southern coseismic uplift area, the direction of the post-seismic deformation is generally opposite to the co-seismic deformation. Additionally, two notable deformation areas are located in the region around 29° N, and near the MFT, respectively. Sentinel-1 observations reveal post-seismic uplift deformation on the north side of the co-seismic deformation field with an average rate of ~20 mm/yr in line-of-stght. The kinematic afterslip constrained by InSAR data shows that the frictional slip is distributed in both updip and downdip areas. The maximum cumulative afterslip is 0.35 m in downdip areas, and 0.2 m in the updip areas, constrained by the ALOS measurements. The stress-driven afterslip model shows that the afterslip is distributed in the downdip area with a maximum slip of 0.3 m during the first year after the earthquake. Within the 4.5 yr after the mainshock, the estimated moment released by afterslip is ~1.5174 × 1020 Nm,about 21.2% of that released by the main earthquake.

Abstract Background Menstrual hygiene management (MHM) is an essential aspect of hygiene for women and adolescent girls between menarche and menopause. Despite being an important issue concerning women and girls in the menstruating age group MHM is often overlooked in post-disaster responses. Further, there is limited evidence of menstrual hygiene management in humanitarian settings. This study aims to describe the experiences and perceptions of women and adolescent girls on menstrual hygiene management in post-earthquake Nepal. Methods A mixed methods study was carried out among the earthquake affected women and adolescent girls in three villages of Sindhupalchowk district of Nepal. Data was collected using a semi-structured questionnaire that captured experiences and perceptions of respondents on menstrual hygiene management in the aftermath of the Nepal earthquake. Quantitative data were triangulated with in-depth interview regarding respondent’s personal experiences of menstrual hygiene management. Results Menstrual hygiene was rated as the sixth highest overall need and perceived as an immediate need by 18.8% of the respondents. There were 42.8% women & girls who menstruated within first week of the earthquake. Reusable sanitary cloth were used by about 66.7% of the respondents before the earthquake and remained a popular method (76.1%) post-earthquake. None of the respondents reported receiving menstrual adsorbents as relief materials in the first month following the earthquake. Disposable pads (77.8%) were preferred by respondents as they were perceived to be clean and convenient to use. Most respondents (73.5%) felt that reusable sanitary pads were a sustainable choice. Women who were in the age group of 15-34 years (OR = 3.14; CI = (1.07-9.20), did not go to school (OR = 9.68; CI = 2.16-43.33), married (OR = 2.99; CI = 1.22-7.31) and previously used reusable sanitary cloth (OR = 5.82; CI = 2.33-14.55) were more likely to use the reusable sanitary cloth. Conclusions In the immediate aftermath of the earthquake, women and girls completely depended on the use of locally available resources as adsorbents during menstruation. Immediate relief activities by humanitarian agencies, lacked MHM activities. Understanding the previous practice and using local resources, the reusable sanitary cloth is a way to address the menstrual hygiene needs in the post-disaster situations in Nepal.

The 2015 Nepal Mw 7.9 earthquake occurred in the central segment of the Himalayan collision zone where the rigid Indian plate is underthrusted beneath the Tibetan Plateau. Refining the coseismic slip distribution and afterslip of the earthquake has great significance for better understanding the seismogenic mechanism in Himalaya orogenic belt. We adopted the angular dislocation elements to construct the rampflat- ramp-flat fault geometry of the main Himalayan thrust. In combining with GPS and InSAR data, we inverted the coseismic slip distribution and afterslip of the Nepal earthquake. The result shows that the mainshock is dominated by thrust slip with minor right-lateral strike-slip. The maximum slip of the mainshock is up to 7.8 m at a depth of 15 km, near to the intersection between the upper flat and mid-crust ramp. The total geodetic moment based on our preferred slip model is M0=8.39×1020 N·m, corresponding to an Mw of 7.93 assuming a shear modulus of 30 GPa. The released moment is mainly confined to the depth of 15— 25 km, in which nearly 50% of the released moment locates at the ramp of upper crust. The maximum slip could be underestimated if we ignore the mid-crust ramp. The inferred afterslip primarily concentrates on the downdip of the coseismic rupture. The afterslip is characterized by pure thrust slip with the maximal amplitude of 0.5 m. The total released moment by the afterslip is estimated to be 1.02×1020 N·m, equiva⁃ lent to an Mw 7.3 earthquake, approximately 12% of the coseismic moment. The coseismic static Coulomb stress change suggests that the southern part to the rupture zone of the Nepal earthquake with a width of about 60 km is largely promoted by the 2015 Nepal earthquake. Considering the fact that this area is strongly locked during the interseismic period, the near-term seismic hazard in this area deserves special attention. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Multiple parameters (brightness temperature, soil moisture, surface latent heat flux, surface air temperature and carbon monoxide) before and after the 2015 Nepal M7.8 Gorkha main earthquake and M7.3 Dolakha aftershock were analysed using satellite observation data. The thermal anomalies from optical and microwave data appear about two months prior to the 2015 Gorkha earthquake. Some of the parameters show anomalous changes at different altitudes about 20 days prior to the main earthquake event and 10 days prior to the strong aftershock. Our results show that pre-earthquake anomalous signals propagate from the in situ to the top of atmosphere, and the anomalies in the atmosphere often observed prior to an impending earthquake. The changes on the land surface and corresponding changes in meteorological and atmospheric parameters show existence of strong coupling during the seismogenic period, although the transfer mechanism of seismic/electromagnetic is still has to be investigated and understood. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An earthquake of Ms8.1 occurred on 25 April, 2015 in Nepal Himalaya, with a focal mechanism of low-angle thrust. This earthquake caused the collapse of a large number of buildings and landslides. According to the investigation,types of buildings investigated include reinforced concrete frame structures, brick concrete structure, brick-wood structures and rubble structures. Long axis direction of intensity circle is in the direction of NWW and the max intensity is Ⅸ and there appeared 2 macroscopic epicenters. About 589 landslides from the High-resolution Remote Sensing Image interpretation are distributed intensively in a strip, which is similar to topography, intensity and aftershock distribution and mainly distributed in the boundary area between Greater Himalaya and Lesser Himalaya nearly along the Main Central Thrust(MCT). Statistical data of slope gradient and aspect reveal that the areas where the gradient is from 30 to 50?nd aspect from 150 to 180?re most sensitive to landslide. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reports the structural failures and collapse of heritage structures in Kathmandu Valley, Nepal, during the 2015 Nepal earthquake, and presents preliminary findings regarding the causes of failures and collapses. Field reconnaissance was carried out immediately after the main shock (Mw 7.8) on April 25 and the strongest aftershock (Mw 7.3) on May 12. It was observed that the performance of heritage structures was influenced by the combination of several factors, including structural and architecture type, configuration and structural deficiency, local site effects and ground-motion characteristics, age and maintenance level, material quality, etc. It was observed that dome structures performed very well, followed by pagoda (tiered temple), and shikhara structures were found as the most vulnerable structures. Moreover, it was observed that structures that had been seismically retrofitted and well maintained appeared to perform well. Some recommendations are made to improve the seismic performance of the heritage structures in Kathmandu Valley. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The equivalence of geophysical fields, the finiteness of measurements and the measurement errors make the result of geophysical inversion non-unique. For example, the measurements and inversion method used, the priori rupture model determined and the slip distribution smoothing factor selected will have significant influences on the earthquake rupture slip distribution. Using different data and methods, different authors have given different rupture slip distribution models of the 2015 Mw7.9 Nepal earthquake, with the maximum slip ranging from 3.0 m to 6.8 m. In this paper, geometry parameters of the single rectangular fault model in elastic half-space were inferred constraining with the Global Positioning System (GPS) and Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (InSAR) coseismic deformations and bounding the slip with approximate average value; and then, the single rectangular fault was divided into multiple sub-faults, and the final slip smoothing factor, the final slip distribution and the maximum slip were determined with the misfit–roughness tradeoff curve, the cross-validation sum of squares (CVSS) and the third-party observation data or indexes being comprehensively taken into account. The results show that, the rupture of the Nepal earthquake extended by over 100 km east by south. The maximum slip of the earthquake was about 6.5–6.7 m, and most of the slip is confined at depths of 8–20 km, consistent with the depth distribution of aftershocks. The method for reducing the multiplicity of solutions to rupture slip distribution in this paper was ever used in inversion of rupture slip distribution for the 2008 Wenchuan and 2013 Lushan earthquakes, and the third-party measurement – surface dislocation has very large effect on reducing the multiplicity of solutions to inversion of the Wenchuan earthquake. Other priori information or indicators, such as fault strike, dip, earthquake magnitude, seismic activity, Coulomb stress, and seismic period, can be used for beneficial validation of and comparison with inversion results.

Abstract After M W 7.8 Nepal earthquake occurred, the rearrangement of stresses in the crust commonly leads to subsequent damaging earthquakes. We present the calculations of the coseismic stress changes that resulted from the 25th April event using models of regional faults designed according to south Tibet-Nepal structure, and show that some indicative significant stress increases. We calculate static stress changes caused by the displacement of a fault on which dislocations happen and an earthquake occurs. A M W 7.3 earthquake broke on 12 May at a distance of ~ 130 km SEE of the M W 7.8 earthquake, whose focus roughly located on high Coulomb stress change (CSC) site. Aftershocks (first 15 days after the mainshock) are associated with stress increase zone caused by the main rupture. We set receiver faults with specified strikes, dips, and rakes, on which the stresses imparted by the source fault are resolved. Four group normal faults to the north of the Nepal earthquake seismogenic fault were set as receiver faults and variant results followed. We provide a discussion on Coulomb stress transfer for the seismogenic fault, which is useful to identify potential future rupture zones.