Nepal's 2015 Earthquake and What Every Educated Nepalese Should Atleast Understand

Dharahara before and after image after April 2015 earthquake in Nepal
Image Credits: Wired

Let's be honest here, what happened in Nepal back in April 2015 shook everyone of us to the very core, from both literal and figurative viewpoint. Almost 10,000 fellow Nepalese lost their lives, countless others lost their homes and are now slowly in the process of dusting themselves up and standing up on their feet on very shaky grounds. 

For me, I felt helpless. I was just sitting on my bed with the remote on my hand and looking at coverage that the news media trying hard to contemplate what had just happened. In life, good things happen but very very ugly things can sneak up without you ever noticing it. It's a fact of life, you accept it and you move on. 

Every time a major "event" takes place in our life; whether it's loss of a loved one, a break-up or a shake-up in an earth shattering scale, it's important that we sit down, have a glass of water and just think about what the next step is. 

Do you beat yourself up that the "event" happened. No.
Do you look up into the heavens and curse god, if he/she exists. No. 

Do you rationalize and take lessons from the "event." Yes, please do. 

As an educated Nepali, I urge my fellow educated, smart and diligent Nepalese to be at least aware of what remote sensing is and how we can, collectively, tackle an impending disaster together. Whether it's floods or earthquakes, please do understand that these things are real, they happen and they are here to stay. Being aware of technology that's really making a huge impact should be the least thing you should do. 

I am a graduate student right now and I have access to courses here in school. Even though most of them are in Korean, I was still able to sit down for formal lecture classes on remote sensing. However, that's not the only way to learn is it?

Last April, I took a web-seminar (webinar) on Remote Sensing Technology for Disaster Management. The earthquake had just happened and the 2 month long lecture changed their focus to Nepal. It struck me how effective and practical webinars can be if they directly, somehow relate to you. At the end of the course, I was able to understand the very basics and that further pushed me take lectures on Remote Sensing Technologies. 

The complete webinar is documented online and the video can be watched again [HERE]

Just around that time, ESA released an online course on remote sensing in a much broader scale and not just disaster management. The full online course is free and can be found [HERE]

NASA does regular webinars on earth observation. Application for NASA Remote Sensing for Disaster Management is now open. The seats are limited and people from disaster management sector are preferred. However, I don't see any reason why one shouldn't at least try applying. Apply [HERE]

If you want to see practical application of remote sensing for disaster mitigation, you can read my paper on the subject [HERE]

Anyways guys, all I am trying to say here is to be informed. There are a lot of free information out and make use of it.