Reviewing the progress of reconstruction five years after the 2015 Gorkha earthquake, Nepal

Abstract

ABSTRACT An earthquake of moment magnitude (M w) 7.8, the largest in the last 80 years, struck central Nepal on April 25, 2015. Named the Gorkha earthquake, it wreaked havoc on the country’s central region, affecting 32 of 77 districts. The earthquake impacted nearly a million private houses, thousands of educational infrastructures, hundreds of health facilities, myriad cultural heritages and many other infrastructures. The National Reconstruction Authority (NRA) was established to lead the post-earthquake recovery and reconstruction and complete it within five years. This paper presents details of the earthquake’s effects, the early response and the status of the post-earthquake reconstruction progress five years after the earthquake. Official reports from Nepalese government institutions, national and international authorities, government databases and research papers on the Gorkha earthquake were reviewed. The numbers of various infrastructures reconstructed and under construction each year after the earthquake and the reconstruction processes adopted are presented. The results show that 67% of private houses, 74% of educational institutions and 58% of health facilities were reconstructed in the five years.