Why was the earthquake in Nepal such a devastating event?
At 7.8 on the Richter scale, this was a powerful quake – and its source was only 11km below ground Several factors combined to make Saturday’s earthquake in Nepal such a devastating event. The first was its basic magnitude. At 7.8 on the Richter scale, this was one of the most powerful earthquakes to strike the region in the past 80 years. In addition, it was a shallow event with a source that was only 11km below ground. Nepal earthquake: rescue continues as death toll exceeds 2,500 – the day's updates That has special consequences, according to David Rothery, professor of planetary geosciences at the Open University. “The shallowness of the source made the ground-shaking at the surface worse than it would have been for a deeper earthquake,” he explained. “I’ve seen pictures of poorly constructed old buildings destroyed in Kathmandu, and I’m concerned that in this mountainous region there could have been landslides that might have destroyed or cut off various remote villages.