Progress after the 2015 Nepal Earthquake: Evidence from Two Household Surveys in One of the Hardest-Hit Mountain Villages

Jeet Bahadur Sapkota,Pramila Neupane,Kyosuke Kurita

doi:10.3390/su132111677

Jeet Bahadur Sapkota, Pramila Neupane + Show 1 more

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https://doi.org/10.3390/su132111677

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Journal: Sustainability	Publication Date: Oct 22, 2021
Citations: 2	License type: CC BY 4.0

Affiliation: Gunma University, Kwansei Gakuin University

Abstract

Nepal was hit by a 7.8 magnitude earthquake on 25 April 2015, followed by numerous aftershocks, including a 6.8 magnitude earthquake on 26 April and a 7.2 magnitude earthquake on 12 May. Using two household surveys of a panel of 377 households conducted in February 2016 and March 2020 in one of the hardest-hit mountain villages, we found that most of the households recovered well, having better housing, increased income, improved awareness about disaster risk, and better infrastructure facilities than before the earthquake. Notably, the poverty headcount index reduced by 16% from 2016 to 2020, and more than 90% of the households reconstructed into earthquake-resistant houses with financial and technical support, mainly, from the government. The village has increased the quality and length of rural roads; there is also wider coverage of clean water supply and better functioning school buildings and hospitals. Similarly, the subjective well-being of the people, gauged using the Oxford Happiness Questionnaire (OHQ), has also increased. These aspects combined indicate improved community resilience and the sustainable development of the village. However, the progress differs significantly across gender, caste/ethnic as well as income groups, which calls for inclusive reconstruction and recovery policies as well as disaster risk reduction (DRR) frameworks at a local level to contribute to community resilience and sustainable mountain development.

Highlights

Nepal, one of the 47 least developed countries (LDCs) as well as one of the 32 lands locked developing countries (LLDCs) in South Asia [1,2], was hit by a 7.8 magnitude earthquake at 11:56 on Saturday April 2015, followed by a series of strong aftershocks, such as earthquakes of 6.8 and 7.2 magnitudes on April and 12 May, respectively [3].Since numerous scholarly studies have been conducted to explore various aspects of the disaster and its impacts on different sectors of the economy [4,5,6], livelihood of people [5,7], and environment [8], among others
LLDCs in the Himalayan Mountain region [7] and many critical concerns regarding the recovery and reconstruction raised after the 2015 Nepal earthquake [4,6,52], we found that most of the households had recovered well in five years after the earthquake
Most of the respondents have better earthquake-resistant housing mainly financed by the government and increased awareness of disaster risks and resilience

Summary

Introduction

Numerous scholarly studies have been conducted to explore various aspects of the disaster and its impacts on different sectors of the economy [4,5,6], livelihood of people [5,7], and environment [8], among others. Despite national as well as international attention, and scholarly interest in the 2015 Nepal earthquake, there is limited exploration of its well-being impact at the household level, in mountainous rural areas. March 2020, this study records the progress of both the objective and subjective well-being of people in one of the hardest-hit rural mountain communities, the Ramche village of the Sindhupalchok District. The results of this study would be useful for policymakers and donor communities to mobilize their resources for disaster risk reduction (DRR) at a local 4.0/).

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