Field Observations on the Performance of Heritage Structures in the Nepal 2015 Earthquake

Abstract eng:
On April 25 2015, Nepal was struck by a Mw 7.8 earthquake. The epicenter was located in Barpak, about 76 km northwest of Kathmandu. Over the next two months, more than sixty aftershocks with a moment magnitude 4.0 or higher were recorded, including, the most important aftershock, seventeen days later, on May 12th, with Mw 7.3. The epicenter of the second event was located 19 km southeast of Kodari, approximately 80 km east-northeast of Kathmandu. At the end of the two months, and over 8832 casualties and 22309 injuries, thirty-one of the country’s seventy five districts were reported to be affected, out of which fourteen were declared ‘crisis-hit’ for the purpose of prioritizing rescue and relief operations; another seventeen neighboring districts were partially affected. With respect to the built environment, the total number of government and private houses fully damaged was 530502 and an additional 281598 were partially damaged. As for cultural heritage, 741 buildings and sites were severely affected, including 133 fully collapsed, 95 suffered partial collapse and 513 partially damaged, according to the Department of Archaeology, Government of Nepal. The PostDisaster Needs Assessment (PDNA) report indicated that the total economic impact was close to US$ 7000 million. In particular, the economic impact to the cultural heritage sector was expected to be US$ 192 million. The current paper provides an overview of the performance of cultural heritage properties in Nepal, particularly in an around Kathmandu. Typological differences in the structure and architecture, recurrent damage and collapse mechanisms are reported for a selected set. Performance of Pagoda-style and Shikara-style temples, and Rana-style buildings are assessed. The paper is an outcome of missions conducted in May-June 2015, involving researchers from IIT Madras, India and University of Porto, Portugal, as part of a joint initiative by ICCROM, ICOMOS, ICOM and Smithsonian Institute.

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