Earthquake on Mount Everest/Kathmandu

Kathmandu, Nepal (CNN)

A 7.8 magnitude earthquake centered less than 50 miles from Kathmandu rocked Nepal with devastating force early Saturday, killing at least 806 people -- and probably more -- in Nepal's capital city, authorities said.

Afterwards, historic buildings in Kathmandu lay in rubble. The injured wound up being treated outside hospitals in chaotic scenes. Residents, terrorized by a seemingly endless series of aftershocks, huddled outdoors for safety.

The death toll was reported by Nepal's Ministry of Home Affairs. But given that the rescue effort is still in its early stages and that people in outlying areas may well have been affected, as well, it seems probable the number will rise.

http://www.cnn.com/2015/04/25/asia/nepal-earthquake-7-5-magnitude/

Someone mentioned Chinese fracking today to me in connection with this story. I have no idea about any of that but it sounded interesting.

How horizontal does fracking go? Reports indicate that this was an especially shallow earthquake.

Fracking probably had nothing to do with this one. It's a tectonically active area that doesn't need fracking to help. But, if you're interested in fracking/earthquake connections, Oklahoma recently admitted a link (and then promptly made it harder to ban fracking in municipalities):

http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2015/04/23/3650316/oklahoma-local-drilling-bans/

Raw footage from some German climbers at Everest base camp, posted on Outside Online (language warning, there are some F & S words):



Small world department: two women from our little town are en route to EBC on a fundraising trek. They were in a Kathmandu hotel when the quake hit, and are thankfully OK. I am kind of hoping that they call off the trek and put their effort and skills into helping out in whatever way they can.

Harvey wrote

How horizontal does fracking go? Reports indicate that this was an especially shallow earthquake.

A horizontal run can go for miles. When I was doing some work for the oil industry they were talking depths of 20,000 feet and this also includes off shore where you can add another 20,000ft of water.