We traveled to Nepal to dig a paleoseismic trench across the active Himalayan thrust in an effort to untangle the magnitude and history of earthquakes along the front. We encountered many challenges along the journey, but ultimately we interpret a single magnitude Mw 8.6 to >9 earthquake with 11.3 ± 3.5 m of dip-slip displacement that occurred 1146–1256 A.D.
Wesnousky, S. G., Y. Kumahara, D. Chamlagain, I. K. Pierce, T. Reedy, S. J. Angster, and B. Giri (2017), Large paleoearthquake timing and displacement near Damak in eastern Nepal on the Himalayan Frontal Thrust, Geophys. Res. Lett., 44, 8219–8226, doi:10.1002/2017GL074270.
Deep trench with bamboo ladders. Collaborators seen in the background.
Tabor Reedy 