Earthquake in Nepal — what to do
Drop, cover, hold on — do not run outside, and do not use lifts. Nepal sits on one of the most seismically active boundaries on earth, and the 2015 Gorkha earthquake killed around 9,000 people. This guide covers what to do in the shaking, in the hours after, and the fifteen minutes of preparation that make the biggest difference.
Nepal lies where the Indian plate is driving under the Eurasian plate — the collision that built the Himalaya and continues to build it. Large earthquakes there are not a possibility but a certainty on a geological timescale, and the country has a long record of them.
The 25 April 2015 Gorkha earthquake, magnitude 7.8, killed around 9,000 people, destroyed hundreds of thousands of buildings, and triggered the avalanche that buried Langtang village. Seismologists have consistently noted that it did not release all the accumulated strain in the region.
That is not a reason to avoid Nepal. It is a reason to know three actions and spend fifteen minutes preparing, because earthquake survival is overwhelmingly determined by what you do in the first sixty seconds and where you happened to be standing.
During the shaking: drop, cover, hold on
This is the internationally standard response and it is what NSET — the National Society for Earthquake Technology, Nepal's own earthquake preparedness organisation — has taught across the country for three decades. Nearly every Nepali schoolchild knows it.
DROP to your hands and knees before the shaking knocks you over. COVER your head and neck, and get under a sturdy table if there is one. HOLD ON to that shelter and move with it until the shaking stops.
- Do not run outside during shaking. Most injuries in Nepali earthquakes come from falling masonry, parapets and glass at building entrances — the most dangerous place to be.
- Do not use a lift. Ever, during or immediately after.
- If you are in bed, stay there, and protect your head and neck with a pillow.
- If you are outdoors, move away from buildings, walls, power lines and steep slopes, and stay there.
- If you are driving, stop clear of bridges, overpasses and cuttings, and stay in the vehicle.
- If you are in a crowd, protect your head and stay low — crowd crush is a real secondary risk.
In the first minutes after
The shaking stops and the second phase begins. Aftershocks follow major earthquakes for weeks, and some are large enough to bring down buildings already weakened by the mainshock.
- Expect aftershocks and be ready to drop, cover and hold again.
- Check yourself, then the people around you. Bleeding and breathing first.
- Get out of a damaged building if you can do so safely, using stairs, and move to open ground away from walls and slopes.
- Do not re-enter a damaged building for possessions. This kills people in aftershocks, every time.
- Turn off gas cylinders and, if you can reach it safely, the electricity.
- Wear shoes. Broken glass is everywhere after an earthquake and cut feet make everything harder.
In the first hours and days
The immediate emergency gives way to a logistical one: communications, water, food, shelter and information.
Phone networks are typically overwhelmed rather than destroyed. Text messages and messaging apps often get through when calls do not, because they need far less bandwidth. Send one short message saying you are safe and where you are, then stop trying to call.
Water is the first genuine scarcity. Municipal supply and treatment fail, and contaminated water after a disaster causes more illness than the disaster itself. Treat everything.
- Send one short text or app message: safe, location. Then conserve battery.
- Register with your embassy if you are a foreign national — this is how they account for people.
- Sleep outside or in a verified-safe building until structures have been assessed. After 2015, most of Kathmandu slept in open ground for days.
- Treat all water. Assume the supply is contaminated.
- Follow official information through the NDRRMA and the BIPAD portal rather than social media, where rumour after Nepali earthquakes has historically been rampant.
- Do not go sightseeing at damaged heritage sites. You obstruct rescue and the structures are unstable.
If you are trekking or in the mountains
The mountain hazard is not usually the shaking. It is what the shaking dislodges.
The 2015 earthquake's deadliest single site was Langtang village, destroyed by an avalanche and landslide, and it also triggered the avalanche that struck Everest Base Camp. Rockfall and landslides on steep trekking trails are the primary risk.
During shaking in the mountains, move away from steep slopes and cliffs if you can, and protect your head. Afterwards, expect trails to be blocked or destroyed, expect further rockfall for days, and do not cross a fresh landslide scar — take local advice on routing, and accept that walking out may take much longer than walking in.
Fifteen minutes of preparation
This is the part that actually changes outcomes, and it is trivial to do.
- Look at where you are sleeping and identify the sturdy furniture you would get under, and what is above the bed that could fall on it. Move the heavy thing.
- Keep shoes and a torch beside the bed. Both matter enormously and neither costs anything.
- Keep a litre of water, a power bank, and a copy of your documents somewhere you can grab in seconds.
- Agree an out-of-area contact with your family — someone outside Nepal whom everyone checks in with, so people are not all trying to reach each other simultaneously.
- Agree a meeting point with anyone you are travelling with, in open ground.
- For residents: secure tall furniture and water heaters to walls, and know where the gas and electricity shut-offs are. NSET publishes practical household guidance for exactly this.
Nepali buildings and where the risk really sits
The honest picture: modern engineered concrete buildings in Kathmandu built to code perform reasonably. The lethal building types are unreinforced masonry — brick or stone with mud mortar — and older, poorly-built concrete frames with heavy overhangs.
This matters for where you choose to stay. Very old brick guesthouses in the historic cores of Kathmandu, Patan and Bhaktapur are atmospheric and are also the most vulnerable structures in the country. Newer, lower buildings on flat ground are a safer bet.
It also matters for the daytime. Narrow lanes lined by tall brick buildings are the worst place to be during shaking, because there is nowhere for falling masonry to go except onto the lane. Courtyards and open squares are safer.
Key takeaways
- ✓Drop, cover, hold on. Do not run outside during shaking and never use a lift.
- ✓Most earthquake injuries in Nepal come from falling masonry at building entrances and in narrow lanes.
- ✓Aftershocks continue for weeks and bring down weakened buildings — never re-enter a damaged building.
- ✓Send one short text saying you are safe, then conserve battery; texts get through when calls do not.
- ✓Fifteen minutes of prep — shoes and a torch by the bed, an out-of-area contact, a meeting point — changes outcomes more than anything else.
Earthquake in Nepal — FAQ
What should you do during an earthquake in Nepal?+
Drop to your hands and knees, cover your head and neck and get under sturdy furniture, and hold on until the shaking stops. Do not run outside — falling masonry at entrances causes many of Nepal's earthquake injuries — and never use a lift.
How likely is another big earthquake in Nepal?+
Nepal sits on the collision boundary between the Indian and Eurasian plates, so large earthquakes are a geological certainty over time rather than a possibility. Seismologists noted that the 2015 Gorkha earthquake did not release all accumulated strain in the region, particularly to the west.
What happened in the 2015 Nepal earthquake?+
The magnitude 7.8 Gorkha earthquake of 25 April 2015 killed around 9,000 people, destroyed hundreds of thousands of buildings, damaged major heritage sites, triggered an avalanche at Everest Base Camp, and buried Langtang village in the earthquake's deadliest single event.
Is it safe to travel to Nepal after the earthquake?+
Yes. Heritage sites have been substantially restored, trekking routes and teahouses were rebuilt, and tourism is a central part of the recovery in affected areas such as the Langtang valley. The sensible response is preparation — knowing drop-cover-hold and choosing accommodation sensibly — not avoidance.
Should I sleep outside after an earthquake in Nepal?+
Until buildings have been assessed as safe, yes — aftershocks bring down structures already weakened by the mainshock. After the 2015 earthquake, most of Kathmandu slept in open ground for several days, and that was the correct decision.
Related guides
Sources & data note
Emergency numbers, department names and official procedures in this guide are cited to Nepali government bodies, embassies and health authorities. The sequencing advice — what to do first, what typically happens at a Nepali police station or hospital counter, how long things take in practice — is our own synthesis of official guidance and consistent traveller and resident reporting, because no single authority publishes an end-to-end procedure. Verify anything visa-, money- or life-critical with the relevant authority or your embassy. Nothing here is medical or legal advice. Guides are written from primary sources — Nepali government departments, operators, park authorities and standards bodies — and each guide lists the sources used for its own facts. Rules, fees and prices in Nepal change; treat figures as current at the review date shown on each guide and verify anything money- or visa-critical with the issuing authority before you rely on it.
- National Society for Earthquake Technology — Nepal (NSET)NSET Nepal ↗
- National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management AuthorityNDRRMA, Government of Nepal ↗
- BIPAD Portal — Nepal's national disaster information platformGovernment of Nepal ↗
- Nepal Police — official site and emergency contactsNepal Police ↗
- Emergency assistance and local information for NepalU.S. Embassy in Nepal ↗