Experts warned Nepal earthquake would come - but didn't know when
Experts have known for years that Nepal was vulnerable to a catastrophic earthquake - they just didn't know it would happen so soon
A massive block of the earth's crust, roughly 120km long and 60km wide, lurched 3m south in 30 seconds. Riding atop this block of the planet was the capital of Nepal - Kathmandu - and millions of Nepalese.
That's the description of Saturday's earthquake from University of Colorado geologist Roger Bilham, a world-renowned expert on Himalayan earthquakes.
The 7.8-magnitude upheaval that flattened historic buildings in Kathmandu and killed more than 2,300 people is the latest release of built-up strain from the collision of two tectonic plates.
The Indian plate is inexorably sliding - in halting, ground-shaking fashion - northward, beneath the much larger Eurasian plate. The process has created the lofty Tibetan plateau and pushed up mountains that reach more than 9,100 metres above sea level.
Just a week ago, about 50 earthquake and social scientists from around the world went to Kathmandu to figure out how to help the poor, congested, overdeveloped, shoddily built area to prepare better for 'the big one' - a repeat of the 1934 quake that levelled the city.
