Ten years ago on 12th Baisakh, a devastating earthquake occurred in Nepal. A powerful earthquake of 7.6 Richter scale shook Nepal for 55 seconds and made the people trahimam. 9,000 Nepali people died when the powerful earthquake shook the ground.

22 thousand injured and 276 missing. Due to the earthquake, 74,000 private, government, heritage, school and public houses were destroyed. 

7 lakh 76 thousand houses were severely damaged and 2 lakh 84 thousand houses were partially damaged. In 10 years, some of us may have forgotten that moment. But let us not forget the consequences of that devastating earthquake. If a great earthquake of this scale or even bigger comes to our doorstep again, let us always keep in a corner of our mind how to avoid that catastrophe and how to protect others. Because Nepal is in an earthquake risk zone. 

Even for 10 years, 6 earthquakes of powerful level and aftershocks of lower scale have been going on, so people have not missed a kind of fear. When these aftershocks are released, there is a fear that there will be a bigger earthquake than that of Baisakh 12, 2072. In 2072, there was no earthquake above 8 Richter scale. Therefore, the energy of the earthquake is trapped inside the plate of the fault line. Seismologists and geologists have estimated that if these plates suddenly move at high speed, it will be added to the energy that is stuck or the added power can cause a great earthquake.

In 1890, there was a great earthquake of magnitude 8 and 8.4 in 1990. According to Roger Wilham, a seismologist from the University of Colorado in the US, "In the Himalayan region, a great earthquake usually occurs in a cycle of 100 years." But in Nepal, a powerful earthquake occurred before the next cycle of great earthquakes, i.e. in 82 years. Since it is not of the level of the 2072 Great Earthquake, it is believed that another Great Earthquake is yet to come.

Some other geologists are saying - when the Gorkha earthquake occurred on 2072 Baisakh 12, the strength of the 130 km east-west long and 50 km wide Dhanja (slit) from Barpak to Dolakha in the east was stuck at a depth of about 10 km under the Mahabharata region south of Kathmandu.

In order to release all the energy stored in this area for the past 82 years, the ridge had to reach the surface of the ground in the border area of ​​Chure and Terai. But that didn't happen. Therefore, after the Gorkha earthquake, the seismic risk has increased in the south of Kathmandu. Because of this, they believe that a major earthquake may occur after 10-20 years. However, science has not been able to predict earthquakes. Although science cannot determine the date, date and time, small and large earthquakes continue to occur in Nepal. 

Seismologically, the Himalayan region has always been at risk. According to a survey, Nepal ranks 11th in the world in terms of earthquake risk based on potential death. The concept of earthquake experts is that Nepal was never earthquake-proof and cannot be in the future.

Remember, an earthquake above 8 on the Richter scale is called a major earthquake, while those from 7 to 8 are classified as strong, from 6 to 7 as moderate, and from 4 to 6 as small earthquakes. Similarly, an earthquake of magnitude 2 to 4 is called an aftershock. Aftershocks less than 2 are not recorded. When 1 is above the Richter scale, the power becomes 32 times less or more. Even after the powerful earthquake of Samvat 2072, moderate earthquakes are still occurring from time to time. 

According to the data of the National Earthquake Measurement Center, within 10 years after the Gorkha earthquake, there have been 5 medium (6 to 7 Richter scale), 820 small (2 to 4 scale) and 55 thousand aftershocks (less than 4 scale). According to the center, small aftershocks occur in Nepal 10-12 times a day. Recently, two earthquakes (5.2 and 5.5 Richter scale) occurred in Jajarkot region on 22 Chait 2081 in three minutes in the evening. Some houses were torn down. A few people were injured when they ran away. This is how earthquakes are happening. As earthquakes and aftershocks are happening like this, we always need to be careful.

Geographical location of Nepal

50 million years ago, the Indian plate in the south collided with the Tibetan Eurasian plate in the north and entered. As a result, the 2500 km Himalayan range from Afghanistan to Myanmar was formed. It includes 800 km of Nepal's snow chain. According to domestic and foreign scientists who are studying and monitoring earthquakes, the Indian plate has been sliding into the Tibetan plate for millions of years.

is currently falling at a rate of about 2 cm per year. Similarly, the Shivalik Mahabharata mountain range is estimated to be rising by 3 mm per year and the Himalayas by about 2 to 7 mm. There are three fault lines (cracks) east-west in Chure Shivalik range within the land of Nepal. Even when the small plates in such faults collide with each other due to friction, the surface vibrates.

Earthquake education, technology and management 

If a large-scale earthquake occurs in the future, we should acquire the knowledge of how to survive and save others or how to minimize damage. Earthquakes don't actually kill people. But a man is killed by his own house. Even if people know nothing about how to avoid an earthquake, there is a possibility that they can avoid an earthquake if they are always aware by taking precautions.

By adopting the proper method for this, you can protect yourself to a large extent. At the time of the earthquake, if you are at school or on any floor of the house, you should immediately decide and work out where you can get out calmly without panicking. Arrangements should be made to provide knowledge about earthquakes such as how to escape from the house to save life at the moment of an earthquake and to include it in the curriculum up to high school. 

Earthquake-resistant house/building construction techniques should be adopted to reduce earthquake damage. In this regard, a system should be developed to allow the construction of building structures only according to the bearing capacity after testing the soil of different areas. A mechanism should be developed to ensure strict adherence to scientific national standards for construction of residential houses, buildings, housing complexes, commercial malls, and office complexes. The relevant departments and agencies under the Ministry of Urban Development should be strict to adopt earthquake resistant (resilient) technology in such structures. 

After the earthquake, all commercial air flights should be canceled immediately and regulations should be made to use helicopters and small airplanes for rescue operations. Provision should be made to store the necessary amount of food, blankets, beds, tents, tripals, fast food (prepared food) etc. at the regional level. Such goods stored in the godown should be replaced every 6 months/years. It should be a practice to sell old goods and keep new stock. 

Arrangements should be made to keep a stock of medicine needed for the earthquake victims in the regional level health institutions. There should be an arrangement to sell such stockpiled medicines every year and replace new medicines and healthcare related materials and equipment. 

Arrangements should be made to carry out many rescue operations within a short period of time after the earthquake. Rescue equipment- Like, instant cutting of cement slope, electrical tools that can make holes, battery operated jaggery, chemical liquid that can break the pile of bricks into soil etc., should be arranged to be available immediately. Trained people who know how to operate such equipment and technical equipment should be prepared. A well-developed system should be managed for immediate and quick removal of piles of bricks, mud etc.

At the end of

After the powerful earthquake 10 years ago, the people of Nepal experienced the government's slowness in disaster management. Nepal itself could not rescue the victims of that earthquake disaster for a few days. But a well-equipped rescue team from neighboring India arrived the next day and a team from China the day after, and rescuers from other countries arrived in Nepal.

Some foreign teams went directly from the airport to the area where the structure was destroyed. House exhumed some of Chappierre's victims alive and some buried corpses. Then the Nepali team was also equipped. Some teams worked on their own, while some teams engaged with foreigners in rescue operations. Based on all these experiences, it seems that an automatic mechanism should be developed in disaster management for the future. 

There should be advance management of rescue operations for impending disasters like earthquakes. But only a few days after the calamity happened to us, the management is complaining. The victims of the Jajarkot and Bajhang earthquakes that happened a year and a half ago had to wait for months to get tent tripal to filter the cold air and warm clothing to protect them from winter. Most of the victims are yet to get relief.

In Nepal, a country with earthquake risk like ours, knowledge of how to survive and save others should be disseminated in case of periodic and regular emergency earthquakes. One should always be alert and aware by acquiring earthquake education by adopting earthquake resistant construction standards. In order to reduce the risk, the government should make the public aware of the adoption of such standards and raising public awareness. In our earthquake-prone country, we must keep in mind that a devastating earthquake can strike at any time. The state apparatus does not have the tendency to shake when an earthquake occurs and forget about it again in a few days.