Virtual Earthquake Reconnaissance Team (VERT) Summary by Manika Maharjan.
Kathmandu valley which consists of three districts, Kathmandu, Lalitpur, and Bhaktapur, was once a big lake with about 500 m thickness of soft clay. There have been numerous studies on Liquefaction susceptibility of Kathmandu valley (Piya 2004). However, the liquefaction triggered by the M7.8 Gorkha earthquake appears to be limited and localized. The localized areas along the edge of Kathmandu basin where evidence of liquefaction was observed are Imadol, Duwakot, Ramkot, Hattiban, and Manamaiju. The evidence includes sand boils and tilting of structures to a minimum extent.
Piya, B.R., (2004) “Generation of a geological database for liquefaction hazard assessment in Kathmandu Valley” Master’s Thesis, International Institute for Geo-Information Science and Earth Observation Enschede, The Netherlands.
Curated topics from the April 25, 2015, Nepal Earthquake to help inform reconnaissance activities, identify impacted regions, and help document the timeline of earthquake response/recovery.
Information on geotechnical impacts—landslides and liquefaction—from the April 25, 2015, Nepal earthquake.
