KATHMANDU, FEBRUARY 13
The twin Turkey-Syria earthquakes measuring 7.8 in moment magnitude have eclipsed even the Russian Ukraine war, which was dominating the media headlines until they occurred on that un-fateful night of February 6 in an interval of nine hours.
The first quake hit near the border of Syria early morning at 3.14 with its epicenter in Gaziantep Province. The second one erupted at 12:24 in the afternoon with the epicenter at Ebistan in Kahramanamaras Province.
An earthquake is characterised by the shaking of the earth, which is otherwise firm and still. This is caused by the collision of the tectonic plates. On the upper part of the plates are several blocks like earth mass separated by cracks, also known as faults. After the plates break due to tremendous stress developed by the movement of one above the other, it shakes the earth mass on which we live. It manifests in the form of an earthquake, which is responsible for the collapse of buildings leading to several deaths and injury.
The point of the breakage of the plates is known as the hypocenter, and its corresponding point on the earth is known as the epicenter. The devastation is high at the epicenter, and it gets lesser in places away from it. The earthquake is measured in moment magnitude, which is calculated by using the moment released during an earthquake rupture. Nepali people have not yet forgotten the tremor that took place in April 2015. Its memory still sends chills up the spine of every Nepali. There are some similarities and dissimilarities between these two incidents. Both the earthquakes were of 7.8 magnitude. But the Nepal earthquake was more shallow as its hypocenter was at a depth of 8.2 km while those of the twin earthquakes were 17.9 and 10 km, respectively.
Whilst the first earthquake in Turkey happened at night, the Nepali earthquake took place at 11.56 local time similar to the second earthquake in Turkey, which was felt at 12: 24 in the afternoon. The number of deaths in Nepal was 8,857 while in Turkey, they have already crossed 25,000, and this figure is likely to mount further in the coming days.Both are tectonic earthquakes.
In Nepal, the earthquakes are triggered by the collision of the Indian and Eurasian plates. The present twin earthquakes were in the neighbourhood of three tectonic plates, known as the Anatolia, Arab and African plates.
The maximum intensity of the Nepali earthquake was VIII on the Medvedev-Spoonheur KarnikScale though some parts experienced an intensity of IX.
The Turkish earthquake had an intensity of XI. This scale has a range of I to XII, where the tremor of I intensity is not noticeable while that of VII leads to destruction of buildings. The one of XII intensity even results in the destruction of well-constructed buildings.
The Nepali earthquake was a one shot affair whilst the Turkish one proved deadly due to being a twin phenomenon. The Nepali earthquake did not have aforeshock as against the Turkish one which had shaken the earth on February 3 three days earlier.
There were about 459 aftershocks of moment magnitude above 4 in Nepal while Turkey already experienced 32 of them of magnitude over 5 within two days.
The history of the Nepali earthquake goes back to the year 1223, following which several earthquakesare said to have occurred in 1255, 1260, 1408, 1505, 1680, 1767, 1834, 1869, 1916, 1934, 1966, 1980, 1988, 2011 and 2015. The Turkish earthquake has a history going back still further back to the year 115.
After that many earthquakes have made a mark in 526, 587, 1170, 1789, 1795, 1820, 1872 , 1874 , 1875 , 1893 and 2020.
Most of the Nepali buildings are made of random rubble masonry as in rural Syria and Turkey. In Jumla, an earthquake resistant measure was introduced inLicchavi times in view of a Licchavi inscription though without any date. It consists of putting a horizontal timber member in the inner and outer edge of the wall in the lower and upper level of the window known as the lintel and sill level.
This was emulated by inserting it in the existing buildings, but it was found to be cumbersome. So, a bamboo jacketing was initiated in five districts of Kathmandu, Kaski, Sindhuli, Ramechhap and Sindhupalchowk district, which withstood the 2015 earthquake whilst the neighbouring buildings fell off.
A technology for the urban areas was proposed to restore the architectural identity and also to make the urban clusters earthquake resistant. It was followed by the reputed Nepal Society for Earthquake Technology in Ombahal area of Kathmandu Metropolitan city, which was later coined as House Pooling.
But this initiative is moving at a snail's speed at best.
Sniffer dogs were used for the location of people buried under the debris.
Similarly, diurnal and nocturnal snakes were proposed for the early warning of earthquakes by putting them in two yards. The objective was also to produce anti-venom for curing snake bites. However, the government did not finance this project.
Instead it supported one non-government organisation led by a prominent politician, which ended in a fiasco amidst speculation of corruption. A damping technology consisting of stones in open joint in a trench has also been found to be useful, which was tested during real earthquakes that occurred as aftershocks following the main 2015 earthquake.
The Nepali government has been nonchalant in the use of aforementioned innovative technologies initiated by the columnist despite the fact that the country is likely to be devastated by an earthquake any time in the west, which has not occurred since 1505 and may manifest in an earthquake of 8.7 moment magnitude.
The east is equally vulnerable as the 2015 earthquake did not release all the stored energy. The Syria-Turkish earthquake should be an eye opener, but it is least likely when the government pretends to be blind.
The western party of Nepal is likely to be devastated by an earthquake any time, which has not occurred since 1505 and may manifest in an earthquake of 8.7 moment
A version of this article appears in the print on February 14, 2023, of The Himalayan Times.
