A Call to Action for a Comprehensive Earthquake Education Policy in Nepal
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.26443/seismica.v2i2.242Keywords:
earthquakes, education, policy, Nepal, awarenessAbstract
Earthquakes in Nepal are among the most damaging natural hazards, claiming many lives and causing more widespread destruction than any other natural hazard. Yet, due to other difficulties and challenges, earthquakes are at the forefront of people’s attention only after major events, such as the 1934 or 2015 earthquakes. As a result, current preparedness of the population to earthquakes is far below the optimal level. This calls for an immediate and widespread educational effort to increase awareness and to raise the current young generation responsibly. After describing the current status of earthquake education at various school levels in Nepal, we here propose a series of actions to undertake towards an official education policy, starting from full openness and use of languages, via coordination and teacher's training, to the content, frequency and style of curriculum. We conclude on a timeline of actions, which have various lengths but should start today. We hope that by sharing our researcher and educational experience and thoughts, the actual preparation of the earthquake education policy for Nepal will start being developed under a dedicated team. Elements of the proposal presented here can be used and adapted to other regions at risk around the world.
References
A.D.C.P. (2000). Project Completion Report of the Kathmandu Valley Earthquake Risk Management Project. Asian Disaster Preparedness Center. https://www.adpc.net/igo/category/ID187/doc/2013-lPGs38-ADPC-Kathmandu_Valley_Earthquake_Risk_Management_Project.pdf
Adhikari, L. B. (2021). Seismicity associated with the April 25, 2015, Gorkha earthquake in Nepal: Probing the Himalayan Seismic Cycle. PhD thesis, University of Paris, France [PhD thesis,]. University of Paris, France.
Adhikari, L. B., Gautam, U. P., Koirala, B. P., Bhattarai, M., Kandel, T., Gupta, R. M., Timsina, C., Maharjan, N., Majarjan, K., Dahal, T., Hoste-Colomer, R., Cano, Y., Dandine, M., Guilhem, A., Merrer, A., Roudil, P., & Bollinger, L. (2015). The aftershock sequence of the 2015 April 25 Gorkha–Nepal earthquake. Geophysical Journal International, 203(3), 2119–2124. https://doi.org/10.1093/gji/ggv412 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/gji/ggv412
Adhikari, M., Paton, D., Johnston, D., Prasanna, R., & McColl, S. T. (2018). Modelling predictors of earthquake hazard preparedness in Nepal. Procedia Engineering, 212, 910–917. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.proeng.2018.01.117 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.proeng.2018.01.117
Ambraseys, N., & Jackson, D. (2003). A note on early earthquakes in northern India and southern Tibet (pp. 570–582). Current Science.
Ambraseys, N. N., & Douglas, J. (2004). Magnitude calibration of north Indian earthquakes. Geophysical Journal International, 159(1), 165–206. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-246X.2004.02323.x DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-246X.2004.02323.x
Bondár, I., Engdahl, E. R., Villaseñor, A., Harris, J., & Storchak, D. A. (2015). ISC-GEM: Global Instrumental Earthquake Catalogue (1900-2009): II. Location and Seismicity Patterns. Physics of the Earth and Planetary Interiors, 239, 2–13. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pepi.2014.06.002 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pepi.2014.06.002
Bossu, R., Corradini, M., Cheny, J. M., & Fallou, L. (2023). A social bot in support of crisis communication:-years of @LastQuake experience on Twitter. Frontiers in Communication, 8, 992654. https://doi.org/10.3389/fcomm.2023.992654 DOI: https://doi.org/10.3389/fcomm.2023.992654
Bravo, T., & Hubenthal, M. (2016). Using Earthquakes as “Teachable Moments.” Science Teacher, 83, 3. DOI: https://doi.org/10.2505/4/tst16_083_03_14
Central Bureau of Statistics. (2012). National population and housing census-2011. Central Bureau of Statistics, National Planning Commission (NPC).
Chen, K. H., Liang, W. T., Lin, C. H., & Wu, L. Y. (2020). Citizen Seismology in Taiwan: Development, Outreach, and Formative Assessment of Near-Real Time Earthquake Game Competition Activities. Frontiers in Earth Science, 8, 154. https://doi.org/10.3389/feart.2020.00154 DOI: https://doi.org/10.3389/feart.2020.00154
Chen, W. P., & Molnar, P. (1977). Seismic moments of major earthquakes and the average rate of slip in central Asia. Journal of Geophysical Research, 82(20), 2945–2969. https://doi.org/10.1029/JB082i020p02945 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1029/JB082i020p02945
Dixit, A. M., Dwelley-Samant, L. R., Nakarmi, M., Pradhanang, S. B., & Tucker, B. E. (2000). The Kathmandu Valley earthquake risk management project: an evaluation. http://www.iitk.ac.in/nicee/wcee/article/0788.pdf,
Hetényi, G., Molinari, I., Clinton, J., Bokelmann, G., Bondár, I., Crawford, W. C., Dessa, J.-X., Doubre, C., Friederich, W., Fuchs, F., & others. (2018). The AlpArray seismic network: a large-scale European experiment to image the Alpine Orogen. Surveys in Geophysics, 39, 1009–1033. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10712-018-9472-4 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10712-018-9472-4
Iyengar, R. N., Sharma, D., & Siddiqui, J. M. (1999). Earthquake history of India in medieval times. Indian Journal of History of Science, 34, 181–238.
Kargel, J. S., Leonard, G. J., Shugar, D. H., Haritashya, U. K., Bevington, A., Fielding, E. J., & Young, N. (2016). Geomorphic and geologic controls of geohazards induced by Nepal’s 2015 Gorkha earthquake. Science, 351(6269). https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aac8353 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aac8353
MoHA. (2015). Nepal disaster report 2015. The Government of Nepal, Ministry of Home Affairs and Disaster Preparedness Network-Nepal.
MoHA. (2018). National Policy for Disaster Risk Reduction. In The Government of Nepal, Ministry of Home Affairs.
Pant, M. R. (2002). A step toward a historical seismicity of Nepal. Adarsa, 2, 29–60.
Prajapati, S. K., Dadhich, H. K., & Chopra, S. (2017). Isoseismal map of the 2015 Nepal earthquake and its relationships with ground-motion parameters, distance and magnitude. Journal of Asian Earth Sciences, 133, 24–37. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jseaes.2016.07.013 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jseaes.2016.07.013
Rana, B. J. B. (1935). Nepal ko Maha Bhukampa (The Great Earthquake of Nepal). Kathmandu, Nepal.
Sapkota, S. N., Bollinger, L., Klinger, Y., Tapponnier, P., Gaudemer, Y., & Tiwari, D. (2013). Primary surface ruptures of the great Himalayan earthquakes in 1934 and 1255. Nature Geoscience, 6(1), 71–76. https://doi.org/10.1038/ngeo1669 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/ngeo1669
Sapkota, S. N., Bollinger, L., & Perrier, F. (2016). Fatality rates of the Mw 8.2, 1934, Bihar–Nepal earthquake and comparison with the April 2015 Gorkha earthquake. Earth, Planets and Space, 68(1), 1–9. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40623-016-0416-2 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1186/s40623-016-0416-2
Shrestha, N. (2016). Rebuilding Nepal After Earthquake. European Press Photo Agency. https://www.epa.eu/photo-essays/2016/rebuilding-nepal-after-earthquake
Subedi, S. (2020). Seismology at school in Nepal: Building an operational low-cost seismic network to establish an educational seismology program. PhD thesis, University of Lausanne, Switzerland. [PhD thesis,]. University of Lausanne.
Subedi, S., Denton, P., Michailos, K., & Hetényi, G. (2021). Making seismology accessible to the public in Nepal: an earthquake location tutorial for education purposes. Bulletin of Nepal Geological Society, 38, 149–162.
Subedi, S., & Hetényi, G. (2021). The representation of earthquakes in Hindu religion: a literature review to improve educational communications in Nepal. Frontiers in Communication, 6, 668086. https://doi.org/10.3389/fcomm.2021.668086 DOI: https://doi.org/10.3389/fcomm.2021.668086
Subedi, S., Hetényi, G., Denton, P., & Sauron, A. (2020). Seismology at school in Nepal: A program for educational and citizen seismology through a low-cost seismic network. Frontiers in Earth Science, 8, 73. https://doi.org/10.3389/feart.2020.00073 DOI: https://doi.org/10.3389/feart.2020.00073
Subedi, S., Hetényi, G., & Shackleton, R. (2020). Impact of an educational program on earthquake awareness and preparedness in Nepal. Geoscience Communication, 3(2), 279–290. https://doi.org/10.5194/gc-3-279-2020 DOI: https://doi.org/10.5194/gc-3-279-2020
Additional Files
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2023 György Hetényi, Shiba Subedi
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
