Japan Geoscience Union Meeting 2021

Presentation information

[E] Oral

S (Solid Earth Sciences ) » S-CG Complex & General

[S-CG40] Active Tectonics and Seismic Hazards in the Himalayan Region

Sun. Jun 6, 2021 3:30 PM - 5:00 PM Ch.24 (Zoom Room 24)

convener:Kazuki Koketsu(Earthquake Research Institute, University of Tokyo), Nath Soma Sapkota(Nepal Geological Society), Srinagesh Davuluri(CSIR-National Geophysical Research Institute), Chairperson:Hiroe Miyake(Earthquake Research Institute, University of Tokyo), Kazuki Koketsu(Earthquake Research Institute, University of Tokyo)

4:45 PM - 5:00 PM

[SCG40-12] Towards the Further Development of the Education and Research on Earthquakes in Nepal

*Mai Suzuki1, Binil Aryal2, Kazuki Koketsu1 (1.Earthquake Research Institute, The University of Tokyo, 2.Central Department of Physics, Tribhuvan University)

Keywords:Seismology, Higher education, Nepal

In order to mitigate the earthquake disaster, it is important to promote the public understanding of earthquakes and to foster an expert on earthquakes, and the various educational institutions provide the diverse curriculums related to earthquakes. In Nepal, where the latest large earthquake hit in 2015 and the risk of future big earthquakes is still high, the different types of earthquake related education and research are provided from the elementary education institutions to the higher education institutions. These curriculums contribute to nurturing people who have the precise knowledge on earthquakes and have the skills on disaster preparedness, however, there are still problems. Based on the interview and literature research at the educational institutions and the government agencies in Nepal, this presentation discusses the actual circumstances of the education and research on earthquakes in Nepal and suggests what is needed for the further development of it.

In Nepal, the primary and secondary schools provide the education on the earthquake disaster mitigation (e.g. how to evacuate in the event of an earthquake) and the higher education institutions offer the courses in geology, engineering, and social sciences related to earthquakes. In addition, the national ministries and NGOs provide training and advice to the builders on how to construct the earthquake-resistant buildings. While these various efforts are being made to mitigate the future earthquake damage, it is revealed that the earthquake-related education and research in the educational institutions mainly focuses on the general knowledge about earthquakes and hardly deals with the specific cases in Nepal, and that the course of seismology, one of the most important earthquake-related academic fields, is hardly provided in Nepal. These problems are shared by those involved in the earthquake education and research in Nepal, and in order to solve these problems, it is necessary to develop the educational curriculum for seismology that incorporates the examples of Nepal.

This research was supported by Science and Technology Research Partnership for Sustainable Development (SATREPS), Japan Science and Technology Agency (JST, JPMJSA1511) / Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA).