Science & Technology

Nepal earthquake actually moved Everest

By T.K. Randall
June 16, 2015

Image: Mt. Everest from Gokyo Ri (2012)
Credit: Rdevany / CC BY-SA 3.0 (adapted) Researchers from China have revealed that the devastating 7.8 magnitude quake which ravaged the base camp at the foot of Mt Everest and left 18 climbers and Sherpas dead was so powerful that it actually managed to move the mountain three centimeters to the southwest.

Before the earthquake struck Everest had been moving gradually in the opposite direction for the better part of a decade at a rate of approximately four centimeters per year.

Scientists have indicated however that the mountain's height of 29,029ft has remained unchanged.

In Nepal the earthquake, along with a second that struck two weeks later, wrought widespread devastation with more than 8,700 people killed and half a million homes destroyed.

Source: Sky News

Tags: Everest, Earthquake