Earthquake moved world's tallest mountain, find out how far
Mont Everest before and after the earthquake. Courtesy: NASA Earth Observatory
Digital Reporter
Wednesday, June 17, 2015, 6:29 PM - A magnitude-7.8 earthquake that slammed Nepal on April 25 was strong enough to move Mount Everest 1.18 inches to the southwest, according to China's National Administration of Surveying, Mapping and Geoinformation.
According to the administration, the shift was a step back for the mountain, which has been moving northeast at a rate of 1.5 inches a year.
The quake was strong enough to move the ground elsewhere as well -- and in some places, quite dramatically.
Ground near Kathmandu was lifted as much as a metre, according to data from Europe's Sentinel-1A radar satellite.
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The event, also referred to as the Gorkha earthquake, is considered one of the worst natural disasters to hit Nepal since 1934.
"The Gorkha earthquake changed the shape of the Earth—literally—by raising up and dropping landscapes by several meters," NASA writes.
"Along a 90 by 30 kilometer swath of land in Nepal, a fault along the edges of the Indian and Eurasian tectonic plates slipped as much as 6 meters. The release of stress in Earth’s crust had devastating effects felt in Nepal, India, China, and Bangladesh. Satellite and ground-based sensors are now revealing the extent of the jolt."
Damage from the tremor covered more than 14,000 square kilometres and claimed more than 8,000 lives, while injuring 19,000 others.
A magnitude-7.3 aftershock struck the area May 12, triggering landslides and causing more deaths.
Additional aftershocks followed.
Sources: China Daily | NASA Earth Observatory
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