™
The informative easy to read introduction to world news
30th April 2015
British English edition
Issue Number 248
In this issue
Hermione sails to the USA
Mediterranean migrant meeting Altamura man
Zombie worms and the fossil record
China-Pakistan corridor
Calbuco eruption in Chile
Gallipoli 100th anniversary
DRC monkeys rediscovered
TTIP demonstrations
St George’s Day
Hubble’s 25th birthday
Holy Shroud exhibition
Caesar’s symptoms
Some of the many earthquake damaged buildings in Nepal
EARTHQUAKE
IN THE
A powerful earthquake struck Nepal on 25th April. It was followed by many aftershocks, or smaller tremors. Soon afterwards seismologists, or scientists who study earthquakes, confirmed that the initial earthquake was a magnitude 7.8.
Nepal is a poor country. It is probably best known for its many Hindu temples and the Himalayan Mountain Range.
Mount Everest, the world’s highest mountain, is on its border with Tibet.
The earthquake destroyed a number of the ancient temples in Kathmandu, the capital city. It also caused, or triggered, a huge avalanche on Mount Everest. Ice, snow and rocks buried tents at base camp.
This is where many mountaineers gather before they set out to climb the mountain.
The earthquake’s epicentre was between Kathmandu and Pokhara, Nepal’s second largest city. Seismologists said it was ‘shallow’, or only 15 kilometres
HIMALAYAS
(9.3 miles) below the surface. These types of quakes are often more destructive. They create a greater side-to-side shaking movement. Over 30,000 thousand years ago the bowl-shaped Kathmandu valley was a lake. The loose soil, or sediment, of the former lakebed amplified the shaking movement, or made it worse.
The city of Kathmandu and surrounding area is home to about three million people. Today, Kathmandu is one of the fastest growing cities in Asia. Yet many of its buildings are badly constructed. Extra floors have been added to some two- or three-storey buildings. This means that they are more