Overview of the 2015 Gorkha, Nepal, Earthquake and the Earthquake Spectra Special Issue

On 25 April 2015, a Mw7.8 earthquake struck near Gorka, Nepal. The earth-quake and its aftershocks caused over 8,790 deaths and 22,300 injuries; a half a million homes were destroyed; and hundreds of historical and cultural monuments were destroyed or extensively damaged (NPC 2015). Triggered landslides blocked access to road networks, and other lifelines were significantly impacted. Damage occurred in the capital of Kathmandu and the surrounding valley basin, but the most heavily affected areas were in more rural regions of central Nepal where losses to some towns were severe. Recovery has been slow, but progress is being made in rebuilding and repairing lost and damaged buildings and infrastructure. This Earthquake Spectra special issue provides a compendium of research papers on the Gorkha earthquake. They are organized into five topics: (1) seismology, ground motion, and geotechnical issues; (2) lifelines; (3) buildings; (4) cultural heritage structures; and (5) social science and public policy related topics. This overview summarizes key aspects of the earthquake and highlights findings from the special issue papers.

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[15]  C. Matuchansky,et al.  Lifelines , 2016, The Lancet.

[16]  J. Avouac,et al.  Himalayan megathrust geometry and relation to topography revealed by the Gorkha earthquake , 2016 .

[17]  K. Vinod Kumar,et al.  Spatial characteristics of landslides triggered by the 2015 Mw 7.8 (Gorkha) and Mw 7.3 (Dolakha) earthquakes in Nepal , 2017, Landslides.

[18]  H. Ishidaira,et al.  The Status of Domestic Water Demand: Supply Deficit in the Kathmandu Valley, Nepal , 2016 .

[19]  Nobuo Takai,et al.  Strong ground motion in the Kathmandu Valley during the 2015 Gorkha, Nepal, earthquake , 2016, Earth, Planets and Space.

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[21]  J. Lynch,et al.  Observations of Landslides Caused by the April 2015 Gorkha, Nepal, Earthquake Based on Land, UAV, and Satellite Reconnaissance , 2017 .

[22]  Matthew J. DeJong,et al.  The Performance of Slender Monuments during the 2015 Gorkha, Nepal, Earthquake , 2017 .

[23]  James B. D. Joshi,et al.  Scalability and Sustainability in Uncertain Environments: Transition to Recovery from the 2015 Gorkha, Nepal, Earthquakes , 2017 .

[24]  Bozidar Stojadinovic,et al.  Improving Post-Earthquake Building Safety Evaluation using the 2015 Gorkha, Nepal, Earthquake Rapid Visual Damage Assessment Data , 2017 .

[25]  Andre R. Barbosa,et al.  Damage Assessment and Modeling of the Five-Tiered Pagoda-Style Nyatapola Temple , 2017 .

[26]  Carlos E. Ventura,et al.  Seismic Vulnerability Assessment of Low-Rise Reinforced Concrete Buildings Affected by the 2015 Gorkha, Nepal, Earthquake , 2017 .

[27]  James M. Ricles,et al.  Seismic Fragility Analysis of the Smithsonian Institute Museum Support Center , 2017 .

[28]  Ayse Hortacsu,et al.  Implementing Nepal's National Building Code: A Case Study in Patience and Persistence , 2017 .

[29]  Larry Alan Fahnestock,et al.  Performance of Medium-to-High Rise Reinforced Concrete Frame Buildings with Masonry Infill in the 2015 Gorkha, Nepal, Earthquake , 2017 .

[30]  V. Silva,et al.  Modeling the Residential Building Inventory in South America for Seismic Risk Assessment , 2017 .

[31]  Nora Sadik,et al.  A Qualitative Case Study of Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene Resources after the 2015 Gorkha, Nepal, Earthquake , 2017 .

[32]  S. Shrestha,et al.  Damage Assessment of Cultural Heritage Structures after the 2015 Gorkha, Nepal, Earthquake: A Case Study of Jagannath Temple , 2017 .

[33]  Pennung Warnitchai,et al.  Site Characteristics of Kathmandu Valley from Array Microtremor Observations , 2017 .

[34]  Rosario Gigliotti,et al.  Damage Reconnaissance of Unreinforced Masonry Bearing Wall Buildings after the 2015 Gorkha, Nepal, Earthquake , 2017 .

[35]  Shunichi Koshimura,et al.  Building Damage Assessment in the 2015 Gorkha, Nepal, Earthquake Using Only Post-Event Dual Polarization Synthetic Aperture Radar Imagery , 2017 .

[36]  J. Ingham,et al.  Seismic Vulnerability Assessment of Two Nepalese Rana Palaces , 2017 .

[37]  Samantha Penta,et al.  Issue Attention and Group Mobilization for Caste Rights following the 2015 Gorkha, Nepal, Earthquake , 2017 .

[38]  Robert Soden,et al.  Post-Disaster Damage Assessments as Catalysts for Recovery: A Look at Assessments Conducted in the Wake of the 2015 Gorkha, Nepal, Earthquake , 2017 .

[39]  Sujan Raj Adhikari,et al.  Rapid Post-Earthquake Microtremor Measurements for Site Amplification and Shear Wave Velocity Profiling in Kathmandu, Nepal , 2017 .

[40]  L. Baise,et al.  Examining the Discrepancy between Forecast and Observed Liquefaction from the 2015 Gorkha, Nepal, Earthquakes , 2017 .

[41]  Robert Dachs,et al.  Emergency Response , 2001, Science.

[42]  Liquefaction-Induced Lateral Spread in Lo Rojas, Coronel, Chile: Field Study and Numerical Modeling , 2017 .

[43]  S. Bijukchhen,et al.  Strong-Motion Characteristics and Visual Damage Assessment Around Seismic Stations in Kathmandu after the 2015 Gorkha, Nepal, Earthquake , 2017 .

[44]  S. Hough,et al.  Toward a Unified Near-Field Intensity Map of the 2015 Mw 7.8 Gorkha, Nepal, Earthquake , 2017 .

[45]  Y. Hashash,et al.  Hydropower Infrastructure Performance after the 2015 Gorkha, Nepal, Earthquake Sequence , 2017 .

[46]  V. Joshi,et al.  Historic Earthquake-Resilient Structures in Nepal and Other Himalayan Regions and Their Seismic Restoration , 2017 .

[47]  Rachel A. Davidson,et al.  Assessment of Infrastructure Resilience in the 2015 Gorkha, Nepal, Earthquake , 2017 .

[48]  Anne S. Kiremidjian,et al.  A Framework and Case Study for Earthquake Vulnerability Assessment of Incrementally Expanding Buildings , 2017 .