Geomorphic and geologic controls of geohazards induced by Nepal's 2015 Gorkha earthquake

J S Kargel¹, G J Leonard², D H Shugar³, U K Haritashya⁴, A Bevington⁵, E J Fielding⁶, K Fujita⁷, M Geertsema⁵, E S Miles⁸, J Steiner⁹, E Anderson¹⁰, S Bajracharya¹¹, G W Bawden¹², D F Breashears¹³, A Byers¹⁴, B Collins¹⁵, M R Dhital¹⁶, A Donnellan⁶, T L Evans¹⁷, M L Geai¹⁸, M T Glasscoe⁶, D Green¹², D R Gurung¹¹, R Heijenk⁵, A Hilborn¹⁷, K Hudnut¹⁹, C Huyck²⁰, W W Immerzeel²¹, Jiang Liming²², R Jibson²³, A Kääb²⁴, N R Khanal¹¹, D Kirschbaum²⁵, P D A Kraaijenbrink²¹, D Lamsal⁶, Liu Shiyin²⁶, Lv Mingyang²⁷, D McKinney²⁸, N K Nahirnick¹⁷, Nan Zhuotong²⁹, S Ojha⁶, J Olsenholler³⁰, T H Painter⁶, M Pleasants³¹, K C Pratima³², Q I Yuan²⁶, B H Raup³³, D Regmi³⁴, D R Rounce³⁵, A Sakai⁷, Shangguan Donghui²⁶, J M Shea¹¹, A B Shrestha¹¹, A Shukla³⁶, D Stumm¹¹, M van der Kooij³⁷, K Voss³⁸, Wang Xin³⁹, B Weihs⁴⁰, D Wolfe⁴¹, Wu Lizong²⁷, Yao Xiaojun⁴², M R Yoder⁴³, N Young⁴⁴

Affiliations

¹ Department of Hydrology and Water Resources, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, USA. kargel@hwr.arizona.edu dshugar@uw.edu uharitashya1@udayton.edu.
² Department of Hydrology and Water Resources, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, USA.
³ School of Interdisciplinary Arts and Sciences, University of Washington Tacoma, Tacoma, WA, USA. kargel@hwr.arizona.edu dshugar@uw.edu uharitashya1@udayton.edu.
⁴ Department of Geology, University of Dayton, Dayton, OH, USA. kargel@hwr.arizona.edu dshugar@uw.edu uharitashya1@udayton.edu.
⁵ Ministry of Forests, Lands and Natural Resource Operations, Prince George, BC, Canada.
⁶ Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, USA.
⁷ Graduate School of Environmental Studies, Nagoya University, Nagoya, Japan.
⁸ Scott Polar Research Institute, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK.
⁹ Institute of Environmental Engineering, Federal Institute of Technology-ETH, Zurich, Switzerland.
¹⁰ NASA Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, AL, USA.
¹¹ International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development, Kathmandu, Nepal.
¹² NASA Headquarters, Washington, DC, USA.
¹³ GlacierWorks, Marblehead, MA, USA.
¹⁴ The Mountain Institute, Elkins, WV, USA.
¹⁵ U.S. Geological Survey, Menlo Park, CA, USA.
¹⁶ Central Department of Geology, Tribhuvan University, Kirtipur, Kathmandu, Nepal.
¹⁷ Department of Geography, University of Victoria, Victoria, BC, Canada.
¹⁸ CVA Engineering, Suresnes, France.
¹⁹ Earthquake Science Center, U.S. Geological Survey, Pasadena, CA, USA.
²⁰ ImageCat, Long Beach, CA, USA.
²¹ Faculty of Geosciences, Utrecht University, Utrecht, Netherlands.
²² State Key Laboratory of Geodesy and Earth's Dynamics, Institute of Geodesy and Geophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan, Hubei Province, China.
²³ U.S. Geological Survey, Golden, CO, USA.
²⁴ Department of Geosciences, University of Oslo, Blindern, Oslo, Norway.
²⁵ Hydrological Sciences Laboratory, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD, USA.
²⁶ Cold and Arid Regions of Environmental and Engineering Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Lanzhou, China.
²⁷ School of Earth Sciences and Engineering, Nanjing University, Nanjing, China.
²⁸ Department of Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX, USA.
²⁹ School of Geography Science, Nanjing Normal University, Nanjing, China.
³⁰ Department of Geography, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, USA.
³¹ Department of Geology, University of Dayton, Dayton, OH, USA.
³² Arizona Remote Sensing Center, School of Natural Resources and the Environment, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, USA.
³³ National Snow and Ice Data Center, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO, USA.
³⁴ Himalayan Research Center, Kathmandu, Nepal.
³⁵ Environmental and Water Resources Engineering, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX, USA.
³⁶ Wadia Institute of Himalayan Geology, Dehradun, India.
³⁷ MacDonald Dettwiler and Associates-GSI, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.
³⁸ Department of Geography, University of California, Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA, USA.
³⁹ College of Architecture and Urban Planning, Hunan University of Science and Technology, Xiangtan, China.
⁴⁰ Geography Department, Kansas State University, Manhattan, KS, USA.
⁴¹ Global Land Ice Measurements from Space (GLIMS) Steward, Alaska Region, Anchorage, AK, USA.
⁴² College of Geographical Science and Environment, Northwest Normal University, China.
⁴³ Department of Physics, University of California, Davis, Davis, CA, USA.
⁴⁴ Antarctic Climate and Ecosystems Cooperative Research Centre, University of Tasmania, Hobart, TAS, Australia.

PMID: 26676355
DOI: 10.1126/science.aac8353

Geomorphic and geologic controls of geohazards induced by Nepal's 2015 Gorkha earthquake

J S Kargel et al. Science. 2016.

. 2016 Jan 8;351(6269):aac8353.

doi: 10.1126/science.aac8353. Epub 2015 Dec 16.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ Department of Hydrology and Water Resources, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, USA. kargel@hwr.arizona.edu dshugar@uw.edu uharitashya1@udayton.edu.
² Department of Hydrology and Water Resources, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, USA.
³ School of Interdisciplinary Arts and Sciences, University of Washington Tacoma, Tacoma, WA, USA. kargel@hwr.arizona.edu dshugar@uw.edu uharitashya1@udayton.edu.
⁴ Department of Geology, University of Dayton, Dayton, OH, USA. kargel@hwr.arizona.edu dshugar@uw.edu uharitashya1@udayton.edu.
⁵ Ministry of Forests, Lands and Natural Resource Operations, Prince George, BC, Canada.
⁶ Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, USA.
⁷ Graduate School of Environmental Studies, Nagoya University, Nagoya, Japan.
⁸ Scott Polar Research Institute, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK.
⁹ Institute of Environmental Engineering, Federal Institute of Technology-ETH, Zurich, Switzerland.
¹⁰ NASA Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, AL, USA.
¹¹ International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development, Kathmandu, Nepal.
¹² NASA Headquarters, Washington, DC, USA.
¹³ GlacierWorks, Marblehead, MA, USA.
¹⁴ The Mountain Institute, Elkins, WV, USA.
¹⁵ U.S. Geological Survey, Menlo Park, CA, USA.
¹⁶ Central Department of Geology, Tribhuvan University, Kirtipur, Kathmandu, Nepal.
¹⁷ Department of Geography, University of Victoria, Victoria, BC, Canada.
¹⁸ CVA Engineering, Suresnes, France.
¹⁹ Earthquake Science Center, U.S. Geological Survey, Pasadena, CA, USA.
²⁰ ImageCat, Long Beach, CA, USA.
²¹ Faculty of Geosciences, Utrecht University, Utrecht, Netherlands.
²² State Key Laboratory of Geodesy and Earth's Dynamics, Institute of Geodesy and Geophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan, Hubei Province, China.
²³ U.S. Geological Survey, Golden, CO, USA.
²⁴ Department of Geosciences, University of Oslo, Blindern, Oslo, Norway.
²⁵ Hydrological Sciences Laboratory, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD, USA.
²⁶ Cold and Arid Regions of Environmental and Engineering Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Lanzhou, China.
²⁷ School of Earth Sciences and Engineering, Nanjing University, Nanjing, China.
²⁸ Department of Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX, USA.
²⁹ School of Geography Science, Nanjing Normal University, Nanjing, China.
³⁰ Department of Geography, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, USA.
³¹ Department of Geology, University of Dayton, Dayton, OH, USA.
³² Arizona Remote Sensing Center, School of Natural Resources and the Environment, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, USA.
³³ National Snow and Ice Data Center, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO, USA.
³⁴ Himalayan Research Center, Kathmandu, Nepal.
³⁵ Environmental and Water Resources Engineering, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX, USA.
³⁶ Wadia Institute of Himalayan Geology, Dehradun, India.
³⁷ MacDonald Dettwiler and Associates-GSI, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.
³⁸ Department of Geography, University of California, Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA, USA.
³⁹ College of Architecture and Urban Planning, Hunan University of Science and Technology, Xiangtan, China.
⁴⁰ Geography Department, Kansas State University, Manhattan, KS, USA.
⁴¹ Global Land Ice Measurements from Space (GLIMS) Steward, Alaska Region, Anchorage, AK, USA.
⁴² College of Geographical Science and Environment, Northwest Normal University, China.
⁴³ Department of Physics, University of California, Davis, Davis, CA, USA.
⁴⁴ Antarctic Climate and Ecosystems Cooperative Research Centre, University of Tasmania, Hobart, TAS, Australia.

PMID: 26676355
DOI: 10.1126/science.aac8353

Abstract

The Gorkha earthquake (magnitude 7.8) on 25 April 2015 and later aftershocks struck South Asia, killing ~9000 people and damaging a large region. Supported by a large campaign of responsive satellite data acquisitions over the earthquake disaster zone, our team undertook a satellite image survey of the earthquakes' induced geohazards in Nepal and China and an assessment of the geomorphic, tectonic, and lithologic controls on quake-induced landslides. Timely analysis and communication aided response and recovery and informed decision-makers. We mapped 4312 coseismic and postseismic landslides. We also surveyed 491 glacier lakes for earthquake damage but found only nine landslide-impacted lakes and no visible satellite evidence of outbursts. Landslide densities correlate with slope, peak ground acceleration, surface downdrop, and specific metamorphic lithologies and large plutonic intrusions.

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Geomorphic and geologic controls of geohazards induced by Nepal's 2015 Gorkha earthquake

Affiliations

Geomorphic and geologic controls of geohazards induced by Nepal's 2015 Gorkha earthquake

Authors

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Abstract

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LinkOut - more resources

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