The Himalaya orogenic belt is the largest continental collision zones on Earth with high population density and high risk of large earthquakes. The 2015 Mw7.8 Nepal great earthquake caused nearly 9000 deaths, destroyed most of the infrastructure in the source area, and caused serious geohazards such as landslide in southern Tibet. The earthquake sequence is the largest along the Himalaya since digital earthquake recordings have become available. The main shock and many aftershocks were recorded by the broadband array along the China-Nepal border and within Nepal deployed by the institute of Tibetan Plateau Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences. Based on several international collaborations, we will combine our data with data from the permanent short-period network of Nepal, and the broadband seismic network of Tibet, China Earthquake Administration to form a comprehensive dataset of the aftershock recordings. We will use various data processing techniques, including earthquake relocation method, waveform modeling, and seismic hazard analysis to study the relationship between the spatial-temporal distribution of slide and the source rupture process, the generation and the seasonal modulation of moderate earthquakes in the recent 50 years, and the prospective seismic risk in and around Nepal. This study will provide new constraints on the generation mechanism of earthquake disasters that affect the sustainable development of the “one belt one road” countries.
Principle Investigator：Bai ling
Project duration：2018.01-2020.12