The recent Nepalese earthquake turned swathes of Kathmandu into rubble and killed 8700. But it also had a large — if less perceptible — impact on one of Nepal’s largest assets: it shifted Mount Everest by 3cm.
According to the state-run China Daily newspaper, local geologists have determined that the first earthquake to hit Nepal this spring shifted the mountain 3cm to the southwest. Over the last few years, the mountain has in fact been moving northeast at 4cm per year — so the quake resets the last nine months of shift.
The geologists note that the second, slight smaller, earthquake to hit Nepal had no impact on the mountain’s position. Its height is also said to be unaffected.
[China Daily via AFP via The Verge]
Picture: Sam Hawley