Nepal earthquake of April 25, 2015

A powerful earthquake of magnitude (M) 7.8 occurred on April 25, 2015 at the plate boundary between Indian plate and Eurasian plate. The epicenter of this earthquake is located approximately 80 km northwest of Kathmandu, Nepal. This epicenter location is near to the district Gorkha for which it is also called as Gorkha earthquake. The convergent movement of the Indian plate with the Eurasian plate resulted in the strain accumulation along major faults and hence produced many significant earthquakes along the boundary in past. This earthquake is as severe as its predecessor event, the 1934 Nepal-Bihar earthquake where the fatalities was 10,600 while 8000 and above during this event. We describe in detail the seismotectonic aspects of the 2015 Nepal earthquake (Mw 7.8) and the damage caused by it. We also provide a background on the seismicity of the Himalayan region.