This would be considered a seriously large earthquake if it was in a place with strict building codes like the USA. For comparison, the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake which damaged 80 bridges was a 6.9. The last "Big One" in California, the Fort Tejon event of 1857, was a 7.9.
US Geological Survey: Worldwide events by magnitude
Al Jazeera reports:
The government of Nepal has declared a state of emergency after a 7.8-magnitude earthquake struck the country and killed hundreds of people, touching off a deadly avalanche on Mount Everest.
Officials said that more than 1,800 people were known to have died on Saturday in Nepal's most powerful quake in decades.
The epicentre was 80km northwest of Kathmandu. The Kathmandu valley is densely populated with nearly 2.5 million people and poorly enforced building regulations.
As aftershocks continued throughout Saturday, the toll was was expected to rise significantly as the scale of the disaster became clear.
[...] The earthquake destroyed many historical landmarks, including the UNESCO World Heritage temples at Basantapur Durbar Square and the Dharara tower, both in central Kathmandu.
[...] Emergency workers and army and police personnel, with the help of residents and bystanders, continued to work tirelessly on Saturday to clear the rubble from these sites and to rescue any survivors from under the debris, although [mostly corpses were] being pulled out.
As night fell [over] the country, thousands of people were staying outdoors and found refuge in Kathmandu's open spaces, in fear that subsequent aftershocks may cause further damage.
The Associated Press news agency cited a senior guide as saying that an avalanche swept a mountain near the Everest base camp. Al Jazeera has learned that at least 10 people were killed in the incident, which also left many climbers trapped.
Related Stories
CNN reports another major earthquake in Nepal:
This was another major earthquake, the kind where you run for your life, where you seek any open area so nothing falls on your head and you don't get trapped under the rubble.
This is on top of the recent magnitude 7.8 quake there.
The Washington Post reports more than 50 dead:
NEW DELHI — A major earthquake rocked Nepal on Tuesday, killing more than 50 people, collapsing homes and buildings and triggering a panicked rush into the streets less than three weeks after the country’s most devastating quake in decades. The temblor, with a preliminary magnitude of 7.3, was the largest jolt in the Himalayan nation since the April 25 earthquake that claimed more than 8,000 lives and left more than half a million homes flattened or damaged. The latest quake struck near the Chinese border not far from the base camp at Mount Everest. The camp was engulfed by an avalanche during last month’s earthquake that left 20 climbers dead. Tremors were felt in major cities around the region Tuesday — as far as 600 miles to the east in New Delhi.
Reports are coming in about a massive earthquake off the coast of Chile. A tsunami advisory has been issued for Hawaii:
BASED ON ALL AVAILABLE DATA A MAJOR TSUNAMI IS NOT EXPECTED TO STRIKE THE STATE OF HAWAII. HOWEVER...SEA LEVEL CHANGES AND STRONG CURRENTS MAY OCCUR ALONG ALL COASTS THAT COULD BE A HAZARD TO SWIMMERS AND BOATERS AS WELL AS TO PERSONS NEAR THE SHORE AT BEACHES AND IN HARBORS AND MARINAS.
Here is the USGS (US Geological Survey) page for the initial 8.3 earthquake. Aftershocks have also been reported.
According to the BBC:
The earthquake struck just off the coast at 19:54 local times (22:54 GMT), about 55km west of the city of Illapel, the US Geological Survey said. Officials said it was at the depth of about 10km.
The US Geological Survey initially reported the tremor as magnitude 7.9, but then quickly revised the reading to 8.3. Several strong aftershocks were reported just minutes later.
Illapel Mayor Denis Cortes reported that one person was killed by a collapsing wall, and 15 other people were injured.
[...] "Tsunami waves reaching more than three metres above the tide level are possible along some coasts of Chile," the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center warned.
The earthquake struck as thousands of Chileans have been travelling to the coast ahead of a week of celebrations of the national holidays, or Fiestas Patrias. Tsunami alerts were also issued for Peru and Hawaii.
According to Wired:
The National Tsunami Warning Center has warned that Chile's shorelines could experience tsunamis exceeding nine feet. "That might not sound like much, but a tsunami wave has all the weight of the ocean behind it," says Scott Langley, an electronics technician with the National Tsunami Warning Center in Alaska. "This isn't something you want to go out and ride with your surfboard."
Since the initial quake, the USGS has reported four aftershocks, ranging from 5.7 to 6.4 moment magnitude.
Separately, we reported back on April 26th that a Magnitude 7.8 Quake in Nepal Kills At Least 1800, Aftershocks Continue. I happened to speak with someone from Nepal yesterday who told me they are still receiving magnitude 6-plus aftershocks.
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday April 26 2015, @04:14PM
Do you guys need more mods because this was ~2 days ago... Sounds like you need more people to help you go through the submissions.
I for one volunteer!
(Score: 3, Disagree) by takyon on Sunday April 26 2015, @04:18PM
It didn't stop being a story, and the aftershocks are a new story. What's the point of having a SoylentNews release the moment an earthquake hits? Do you plan to use SoylentNews to avoid tsunamis?
[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 2) by Tork on Sunday April 26 2015, @05:11PM
🏳️🌈 Proud Ally 🏳️🌈
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday April 26 2015, @04:45PM
Sounds like you need more people to help you go through the submissions.
I for one volunteer!
Great, refer to http://wiki.soylentnews.org/wiki/Editors [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday April 26 2015, @04:51PM
Lack of submissions, rather than editors.
(Score: 2) by captain normal on Sunday April 26 2015, @07:42PM
Get an ID. it doesn't have to reflect your true id on the surface. Then if you have the time, offer to be an editor. If you are signed in the modding part will happen.
When life isn't going right, go left.
(Score: 2) by mendax on Sunday April 26 2015, @04:24PM
I suspect the last "big one" was not the Fort Tejon quake but rather the 1906 San Francisco quake, which has been estimated to be larger and caused substantially more damage due to the epicenter's proximity to San Francisco and San Jose.
It's really quite a simple choice: Life, Death, or Los Angeles.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday April 26 2015, @07:06PM
True. (I'm very SoCal-centric. The last time I lived in the northern part of the state was when Daddy was stationed at Travis AFB when I was 2.)
The Big One tends to alternate ends: south, then north, then south again.
The Fort Tejon quake was the last Big One on the end of the San Andeas fault near where I am.
With those major events happening at this end every 150 years on average, we're overdue.
-- gewg_
(Score: 2) by Jeremiah Cornelius on Sunday April 26 2015, @07:30PM
'89 wasn't a small one... ;-)
Of course, we didn't know how big, until the Guinness ran out, 'bout 5:30 PM.
You're betting on the pantomime horse...
(Score: 2, Informative) by Anne Nonymous on Sunday April 26 2015, @04:38PM
Red Cross here [redcross.org]. Choose Nepal Earthquake Relief from the pulldown.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday April 26 2015, @04:46PM
Last time I made such donation was about five years ago. Don't even remember what the disaster was. It just feels like I'm being conned.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by Techwolf on Sunday April 26 2015, @04:58PM
I knew someone that worked at the redcross and left in discust due to the outright corruption that was going on. Due to redcross has folks in key position in gov and media, it rarly gets exposed.
(Score: 1) by Anne Nonymous on Sunday April 26 2015, @05:17PM
The Red Cross is not without problems, however, it's better than giving money to a charity scam.
(Score: 4, Insightful) by bradley13 on Sunday April 26 2015, @05:02PM
Nothing to do with this specific event, and also not recently updated, but nonetheless: This page provides an interesting overview of earthquake frequency by magnitude [usgs.gov]. Certainly I didn't realize that quakes of 7.x magnitude occur around 15 times per year. Obviously not always in a location that affects people so dramatically, but still - that's a lot!
Everyone is somebody else's weirdo.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by moondrake on Sunday April 26 2015, @07:54PM
Its not only the location. The problem is that the magnitude of a quake (a measure of energy released) does not have a clear relation to what is called the intensity [carleton.edu] (a measurement of damage, or amount of ground shaking occurring locally).
I lived for a couple of years in Japan and they actually usually indicate 2 numbers for earth quake, one of which refers to the intensity, and corresponds much better with your personal experience of the events.
(Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday April 26 2015, @09:51PM
in Japan and they actually usually indicate 2 numbers
Sounds like the 12-point Mercalli-Cancani-Sieberg scale. [wikipedia.org]
The Mercalli scale existed before the Richter scale and before there were seismic instruments to measure this stuff.
-- gewg_
(Score: 2) by TheLink on Sunday April 26 2015, @06:42PM
https://google.org/personfinder/2015-nepal-earthquake/ [google.org]
Dunno how useful it would be - anyone have any experience with such stuff?
(Score: 2) by takyon on Sunday April 26 2015, @08:04PM
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/google-executive-fredinburg-dies-in-everest-avalanche-2015-04-26 [marketwatch.com]
[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
(Score: -1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday April 26 2015, @08:48PM
Check to see what the military strategists have been doing the last few days. Where they were. What equipment they requested, etc. Have they been busy lately to cause this disaster?
Are they watching what happens when a disaster of this magnitude happens, fixing and training their computer models of natural disasters? So that when they cause the next earthquake they will know in advance what to expect.
It is possible someone was in the area who had to be put away. So this earthquake conveniently happened just in time to make that happen.
Question: Is there a Free, Open-source alternative to the military's disaster modeling program that normal people can use?