Mount Everest Shifts 1.2 Inches South-West

Mount Everest shifts 1.2 inches south-west after shock of Nepal earthquake

• The 7.8-magnitude quake devastated the country on April 25, killing 8,700
• Reversed the gradual north easterly course of the world's tallest mountain
• Mount Everest moved 1.2 inches (three centimetres) to the southwest
• Expert compared the movement to that of a rubber ball when it's poked 

By Sarah Griffiths

Published: 10:00 GMT, 16 June 2015 | Updated: 13:23 GMT, 16 June 2015

 

The world's tallest peak, Mount Everest, has shifted 1.2 inches (three centimetres) south-west as a direct result of the Nepal Earthquake.

The 7.8-magnitude quake devastated the country in April, killing more than 8,700 people and destroying important monuments.

The disaster has also reversed the gradual north-easterly course of the mountain, according to China’s National Administration of Surveying, Mapping and Geoinformation.

The world's tallest peak, Mount Everest (seen here from basecamp) moved 1.2 inches (three centimetres) to the southwest because of the Nepal earthquake

Over the past decade, Everest has moved 16 inches (40cm) to the north-east at a speed of 1.6 inches (4cm) per year, Chinese state media reported.

The mountain also rose 1.2 inches (3cm) over the same time period.

Professor James Jackson, a geologist at Cambridge University, told MailOnline that rocks are bendy and during the earthquake process, the Earth behaves a little like a rubber ball. 

The 7.8-magnitude quake devastated the country in April, killing more than 8,700 people in the country and destroying important monuments. On April 25, an avalanche struck base camp (shown on the map)

MIGHTY MOUNT EVEREST 

Mount Everest’s peak is 29,029 feet (8,848 metres) above sea level, which is around the cruising altitude of a jet airliner.

The world's highest peak is located in the Mahalangur section of the Himalayas.

Data suggests the world’s highest mountain gets higher by three to five millimetres a year, so that every time a team reaches the summit they are setting a new altitude record.

Mount Everest attracts highly experienced mountaineers who tackle one of its two climbing routes - one approaching the summit from the southeast in Nepal, and the other from the north in Tibet.

The routes aren't technically particularly difficult, but pose dangers including altitude sickness, weather and wind as well as avalanches.

By March 2012, Everest had been climbed 5,656 times with 223 deaths.

Although shorter mountains can be longer or steeper climbs, it's so high the jet stream can hit it so climbers face winds exceeding 200 mph when the weather shifts.

The mountain's height was first decided in 1856, when Andrew Waugh announced Everest (then known as Peak XV) as 29,002 feet (8,840 metres) high, after several years of calculations based on observations made by the Great Trigonometric Survey.

Now the height is set and recognised by Nepal and China.

He compared the epicentre of the earthquake, which struck on April 25, to a ball being poked with a finger, while the rest of the ball spreads outwards a little.

The epicentre of the earthquake was near Kathmandu with Everest around 100 miles (161 km) to the east. 

While the earthquake itself was less forceful on the mountain, it still triggered deadly avalanches killing 18 people and leaving its climbing base camp in ruins, causing the authorities in both China and Nepal to cancel all climbs for this year.

The mountain straddles the border between the two countries.

Professor Jackson said that before the earthquake, India was gradually moving into Nepal, so that the country was effectively being compressed and the mountain slightly squeezed.

When the earthquake struck, Kathmandu rebounded by around seven feet (two metres) and the mountain rather less, to readdress the balance.

‘This happens all the time,’ he said, citing the Japan earthquake in 2011 as an example.

‘Japan compressed like a ball – east and west – but after the earthquake this reversed and the country extended 10 feet (three metres).'

Geologists call the effect elastic rebound because energy is stored up before an earthquake and release afterwards.

Two earthquakes shook the region – one on April 25 and another May 12 – which in combination triggered landslides and destroyed half a million homes, leaving thousands without shelter just weeks ahead of monsoon rains. 

While the second quake was still strong, with a magnitude of 7.3, it didn’t move the mountain, according to reports.

Terrifying moment avalanche hits Everest base camp

   

The epicentre of the earthquake was at Kathmandu with Everest around 100 miles to the east. While the earthquake itself was less forceful on the mountain, it still triggered deadly avalanches. Here, a cloud of snow and debris triggered by an earthquake roars towards Everest base camp

The quake promoted the authorities in both China and Nepal to cancel all climbs for this year. Here, an injured person is loaded onto a rescue helicopter at Everest base camp on April 26, a day after an avalanche devastated the camp

Days after the disaster, Professor Jackson estimated the vertical and horizontal motion caused by the quake would be less than four inches (10cm), National Geographic reported. 

He said that the 1.2 inch movement south west is what he would expect from a quake of this magnitude.

On April 29, scientists said preliminary data collected by the European Sentinel-1A radar satellite suggested that Everest had shrunk in height by an inch (2.5cm), while ground closer to Kathmandu may have risen by as much as three feet (one metre).

   

On April 29, scientists said preliminary data collected by the European Sentinel-1A radar satellite suggested that Everest had shrunk in height by an inch (2.5cm). The peak of the mountain, which is 29,022 feeet tall is pictured from a plane (stock image)