In addition, no large floods from overflowing glacial lakes occurred after the magnitude 7.8 quake, which struck near the town of Gorkha, Nepal on April 25, 2015.
"It was a really bad earthquake -- over 9,000 fatalities in four countries, primarily Nepal," said lead author Jeffrey Kargel, senior associate research scientist in the University of Arizona department of hydrology and water resources. "As horrific as this was, the situation could have been far worse for an earthquake of this magnitude."
When the earthquake struck, glaciologist Kargel considered how he could help from more than 8,000 miles away.
"For the first 24 hours after the quake I was beside myself suffering for my friends and the country of Nepal that I so love," he said. "I thought, what can I do? I'm sitting here in Tucson -- how can I help Nepal?"
He realized his expertise in satellite imaging could help find out where landslides had happened, especially in remote mountain villages far from population centers.
He and UA geologist Gregory Leonard called on colleagues in the Global Land Ice Measurements from Space (GLIMS) network that Kargel led to help identify affected areas by using satellite imagery. An international consortium of glaciologists, GLIMS monitors glaciers all over the world. The GLIMS team's initial efforts focused on possible earthquake effects on Himalayan glaciers, but quickly expanded to searching for post-earthquake landslides.
Within a day or two, Kargel, GLIMS scientists and others joined with the NASA Applied Sciences Disasters group to use remote sensing to help document damage and identify areas of need. The international group of scientists requested that several satellites take images of the region to enable the systematic mapping of landslides.
As a result of that request, both government space agencies and commercial enterprises provided thousands of images. Kargel's group selected which ones to analyze and organized into six teams to scrutinize the vast earthquake-affected region for landslides.
The scientists volunteered their time and worked long hours to analyze the images. Kargel said producing the landslide inventory was possible only because the network of volunteer analysts spanning nine nations had free access to such data.
More than 10 satellites from four countries provided images and other data so the volunteer analysts could map and report the various geological hazards, including landslides, that resulted from the earthquake. Computer models were used to evaluate the likelihood that the downstream edges of glacial lakes would collapse and flood villages and valleys below
A range of groups, including international emergency response teams, received timely and relevant information about the post-earthquake geological hazards because of the rapid and open sharing of information among many different organizations.
About a month after the disaster, the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD) used the scientists' information to prepare a report and briefing for the Nepalese cabinet. As a result, the Nepal government increased support for a geohazard task force, which mobilized additional geologists to further assess current and future vulnerabilities.
The 4,312 landslides that happened within six weeks after the quake were far fewer than occurred after similar-magnitude quakes in other mountainous areas.
"It was a really bad earthquake -- over 9,000 fatalities in four countries, primarily Nepal," said lead author Jeffrey Kargel, senior associate research scientist in the University of Arizona department of hydrology and water resources. "As horrific as this was, the situation could have been far worse for an earthquake of this magnitude."
When the earthquake struck, glaciologist Kargel considered how he could help from more than 8,000 miles away.
"For the first 24 hours after the quake I was beside myself suffering for my friends and the country of Nepal that I so love," he said. "I thought, what can I do? I'm sitting here in Tucson -- how can I help Nepal?"
He realized his expertise in satellite imaging could help find out where landslides had happened, especially in remote mountain villages far from population centers.
He and UA geologist Gregory Leonard called on colleagues in the Global Land Ice Measurements from Space (GLIMS) network that Kargel led to help identify affected areas by using satellite imagery. An international consortium of glaciologists, GLIMS monitors glaciers all over the world. The GLIMS team's initial efforts focused on possible earthquake effects on Himalayan glaciers, but quickly expanded to searching for post-earthquake landslides.
Within a day or two, Kargel, GLIMS scientists and others joined with the NASA Applied Sciences Disasters group to use remote sensing to help document damage and identify areas of need. The international group of scientists requested that several satellites take images of the region to enable the systematic mapping of landslides.
As a result of that request, both government space agencies and commercial enterprises provided thousands of images. Kargel's group selected which ones to analyze and organized into six teams to scrutinize the vast earthquake-affected region for landslides.
The scientists volunteered their time and worked long hours to analyze the images. Kargel said producing the landslide inventory was possible only because the network of volunteer analysts spanning nine nations had free access to such data.
More than 10 satellites from four countries provided images and other data so the volunteer analysts could map and report the various geological hazards, including landslides, that resulted from the earthquake. Computer models were used to evaluate the likelihood that the downstream edges of glacial lakes would collapse and flood villages and valleys below
A range of groups, including international emergency response teams, received timely and relevant information about the post-earthquake geological hazards because of the rapid and open sharing of information among many different organizations.
About a month after the disaster, the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD) used the scientists' information to prepare a report and briefing for the Nepalese cabinet. As a result, the Nepal government increased support for a geohazard task force, which mobilized additional geologists to further assess current and future vulnerabilities.
The 4,312 landslides that happened within six weeks after the quake were far fewer than occurred after similar-magnitude quakes in other mountainous areas.
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