Mount Everest ‘moves 3cm south west’ after Nepal earthquake

Mount Everest has shifted three centimetres to the southwest because of the devastating Nepal earthquake, according to Chinese research. The 7.8 magnitude quake in April reversed the gradual northeasterly course of the world’s tallest mountain, the National Administration of Surveying, Mapping and Geoinformation found. Before the earthquake, Mt Everest had moved 40 centimetres to the northeast over the last decade, at a rate of four centimetres a year, according to the research, published in Chinese state media. The mountain, which straddles the border between Nepal and China, also rose three centimetres in that time.

It’s likely that the earthquake occurred on the Himalayan Thrust fault, a plate boundary that separates the northern moving Indian sub-continent from Eurasia.

Sandy Steacy, head of physical sciences at the University of Adelaide

Scientists also said the densely populated Kathmandu Valley, around 80 km southeast of the epicentre, moved south by nearly two metres as a result of the earthquake. The earthquake caused an avalanche on the mountain, killing 18 people and leaving its climbing base camp in ruins. Authorities in both China and Nepal have cancelled all climbs for this year. More than 8,700 people were killed in Nepal and half a million homes were destroyed.

There may be earthquakes for months in the region, which likely relate to the main event.

Mark Allen, department of earth sciences at the University of Durham

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