Nepal earthquake expected, but infrastructure not ready

Saturday’s deadly earthquake in Nepal was the “big one” experts have been expecting, based on the region’s history and geology. The magnitude-7.8 earthquake centered less than 50 miles from the Nepalese capital, Kathmandu, toppled homes and historic buildings, and killed more than 2,500 people in Nepal, India and Tibet, authorities said. Earthquakes are a fact of life in the South Asian country, with tremors of magnitude 4 or 5 occurring several times each year, geologist and science journalist Kate Ravilious said…

 

3 lessons on resilience from the first Earth Day

An estimated 20 million people participated in the first Earth Day in the United States on April 22, 1970. The day helped change the national agenda and proved that people in the United States had a deep concern for the state of the environment. In some ways it launched the modern, international environmental movement…

 

Solomon Islands: Disaster recovery that builds resilience recognised by government

Better preparing Solomon Islanders for future disasters, and building resilience, is an important part of recovery planning, the government has recognised. Risk-resilient recovery planning is now an official function of the Ministry of Development Planning and Aid Coordination (MDPAC), which last month formally integrated a disaster Recovery Coordination Committee (RCC) into its annual plan…