Last April 25th, an earthquake of magnitude 7.8 on the Richter scale hit Nepal. This was a big scale earthquake, so 8,126 Nepalese died and 19,000 were injured. The estimated damage is about 3 to 3.5 billion dollars. In addition, most Nepalese set importance on tourism, but important cultural heritages were destroyed. Durgar Square, which has a lot of Buddhist temples, and the landmark of Nepal Dharahara tower in Durbar Square, which was designated as a UNESCO World Heritage site, are typical examples.
  Many geologists had expected for many years that Nepal would have a big earthquake. 50 geologists, who went to Nepal 7 days before the earthquake, said, “Someday, a big earthquake will occur in Nepal.” Nepal is situated between the Indian Plate and the Eurasian Plate. The Indian Plate penetrates the Eurasian Plate. Mount Everest gets 5~8 mm higher every year due to this penetration. Nepal has been in danger for a long time, but they didn’t prepare for the earthquake. That is why they received much damage. In 1934, an earthquake of magnitude 8.2 on the Richter scale hit Nepal. This earthquake was recorded as its worst earthquake. In addition, in 1988, an earthquake of magnitude 7.6 on the Richter scale hit Nepal, and it killed about 1,000 people. It is a continual problem, and many geologists expected the earthquake, so why didn’t Nepal prepare for the earthquake?
The reason was the civil war. Nepal’s civil war was a war between Maoists and government forces. It started in 1996 and the war finished in 2006, and about 16,000 died. That war was a civilian massacre. Also, their amount of debt was as much as 70% of their GNP. At that time, the government didn’t have any spare budget, but they increased their arms budget. This is why they didn’t prepare for the earthquake.
  In addition, other countries have strict building standard laws. Most countries have strict laws, so they apply the rules rigorously. Nepal has those laws, but they don’t care about those laws. Most building owners are amateur and they employ amateur architects, so only 10% of Nepal’s buildings are made by professional architects. Also, most buildings are made with low quality materials like natural stones and bricks, and most buildings are not earthquake resistant. Most buildings are bigger in the upper half than the lower half and they are congested, so that is why the damages were so extensive.
  Then how about Japan? Japan has a good management system. In 2006 a 7.0 scale of earthquake hit Japan. 1 person died and 1,204 were injured. Property damage was 35 billion yen. The damage was not small, but it was relatively smaller than in Nepal. In Japan’s case, most buildings are built to withstand a quake, and they strictly educated architects to prepare for earthquakes.
Many countries are helping Nepal now, but it’s not easy. Since it was followed by a series of aftershocks and the roads are collapsing, the harmful damages grew. This earthquake was a big earthquake, but this earthquake shows the low level of Nepal’s ability to react. In the Japan’s case, they are good at handling these crises, so they don’t have many casualties. They had trouble in their history, but Nepal should have better prepared for earthquakes. However, Nepal neglected that, and it exacerbated the tragedy.

By Kim Soo-min
sm36@cbnu.ac.kr