By Sabina S. Surana, P.E., Reid Middleton.
June 2015.
The purpose of this report is to present the author’s observations, findings, and recommendations at the request of Homraj Acharya, Country Director for Global Fairness Initiative (GFI) and as a follow up to volunteer service performing rapid post-earthquake safety evaluations of damaged buildings in the Kathmandu valley in Nepal. In May 2015, following the magnitude M7.8 Gorkha Earthquake that struck Nepal on April 25, 2015, GFI deployed volunteer structural engineers from the United States to provide rapid post-earthquake safety evaluations of damaged buildings. The team travelled to Nepal at the request of the Nepalese government and in collaboration with GFI’s local partners Brick Clean Nepal and MinErgy. The primary mission of the team was to perform rapid post-earthquake safety evaluations of damaged buildings in the Kathmandu valley and to assist local authorities and residents in determining whether their structures were safe to occupy. The team performed building safety evaluation assessments alongside volunteer Nepalese engineers deployed by the Nepal Engineering Association (NEA). This report summarizes the observations, findings, and recommendations from the author only, not the entire team.
Read the Report: M7.8 Gorkha Earthquake Post-Earthquake Building Safety Evaluations in the Kathmandu Valley Observations and Recommendations (PDF)
