Hospital Built by China in Nepal Withstands Earthquake

The Civil Service Hospital in Minbhawan, Katmandu, a China-aid project built in 2008, has been honored as the “Strongest Building,” and has served as an important rescue center following the April 25 earthquake.

The article reports the following about the seismic performance of the hospital:

• Major structure, including the outer wall, doors, windows and glass are solid and intact.
• No cracks in the beam columns or interior walls
• Indoor suspended ceiling and floor tile are generally in good condition. Suspended ceiling fell in only a few locations.
• Small transverse cracks found in outer wall of the second floor

Figure 1. Civil Service Hospital post-earthquake damage

According to a post-earthquake assessment, all of the major structures of the completed China-aid projects performed well in the earthquake. To read the full report, click here.

Bishnu Pandey is Instructor in the Department of Civil Engineering, School of Construction and the Environment at British Columbia Institute of Technology

Anna Weiser-Woodward is Graduate Engineer at Walter P. Moore

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.