Current Event Essay: Nepal May Be Poised For Another Big Earthquake
Robert George Andrews, the author of the article “Nepal May Be Poised For Another Big Earthquake”, has a PhD in Geology – Experimental Volcanology and is a writer for Discover Magazine.
In April of 2015 Nepal was hit by an earthquake with a magnitude of 7.8. In the Richter Scale the earthquake would be considered Major. The earthquake caused very severe damage to Nepal, leaving 23,000 people injured and killing 9,000. The earthquake also caused an avalanche which helped with the destruction of the region. The region is very familiar with earthquakes as they have long haunted the country Nepal, which lies on top of The Main Himalayan Thrust fault (MHT). Knowing that this region is very prone to earthquakes, scientists
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During their examination of the region, scientists discovered that the earthquake was barred from traveling. After traveling eastward from the epicenter for about 45 seconds the earthquake was shut down. The authors of the experiment referred to this subterranean spot as a “locked edge”. The “locked edge” could prove itself to be a dangerous feature of The Main Himalayan Thrust fault. In 1833 and 1934 two major earthquakes occurred and likely encountered this same “locked edge”, however, the authors of the experiment say that the 2015 earthquake might have loosened the “lock edge”. If this is the case the people of Nepal need to be in high alert because a very powerful tremor might be headed their way. The last tremor that occurred in this portion of the MHT was back in 1505, and had a magnitude of 8.5, it exerted about 11 times more energy than the one in 2015. There is