On Saturday April 25, 2015 a 7.8 magnitude earthquake struck Nepal approximately 50 km outside its capital of Kathmandu, the worst earthquake to hit the region in 80 years and caused an avalanche on Mount Everest, killing at least 17 on the mountain. The death toll so far is well over 4,300 people, with nearly 5,000 injured and tens of thousands displaced from their homes.  In addition, other countries in the region were affected including 56 deaths in India, 20 in China, and 25 deaths and 117 injuries in Tibet.  The earthquake only hit a depth of about 11 km, a relatively shallow quake. Unfortunately, the shallower the quake, the more destruction it leaves in its wake. “The shallowness of the source made the ground-shaking at the surface worse than it would have been for a deeper earthquake,” said Dr. David Rothery, a professor of planetary geosciences. The quake continues to cause large aftershocks, causing more destruction.

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