An Overview of Disaster Management during the April 25, 2015, Mw7.8 Nepal Earthquake

At 11:46 A.M. local time on April 25, 2015, a destructive earthquake with a moment magnitude (Mw) 7.8 struck central Nepal. The epicentral region of the earthquake was located in the Gorkha region. Due to this event, more than 8000 people were killed and 22,000 were injured. Following this destructive earthquake, some affected areas including Kathmandu, Bhaktapur, Gorkha and Pokhara were visited by the first two authors during 6-11 May 2015 in order to assess the performance of disaster management and emergency responses to the 2015 Gorkha earthquake. Based on the observational assessments, the physical damages to buildings and historical monuments are pointed out briefly. The logistics, disaster management performance, along with emergency responses such as the shelters, health, food, treated water and medical supplies are also described. Meanwhile, several key lessons learned from the 2015 Nepal earthquake response are highlighted. In addition, a new design of emergency tents is proposed which is suitable for earthquake-prone areas specifically in south Asian regions like Nepal.