Satellite-Detected Earthquake Damage Assessment for Muchok, Nepal, 2015

Nepal's Muchok area, located 2-7 kilometers west of the 25 April 2015 earthquake epicenter, was analyzed for structural damage. UNITAR/UNOSAT identified 299 affected structures from satellite imagery acquired on 29 April 2015, classifying them as destroyed, severely damaged, moderately damaged, or possibly damaged. This is a preliminary analysis and has not been validated in the field.

Use Cases

• Map structural damage density based on the 299 affected structures identified.
• Analyze damage severity patterns using the classifications of destroyed, severe, moderate, and possible damage.
• Support ground validation efforts for preliminary satellite-based assessments.
• Model impact zones relative to the 2015 earthquake epicenter based on the described geographic location.

Strengths

• Provides specific counts of affected structures: 299 total, with 162 destroyed, 66 severely damaged, 38 moderately damaged, and 33 possibly damaged.
• Analysis is geospatially precise, focusing on the Muchok area 2-7 km from the earthquake epicenter.
• Data source is authoritative, produced by the United Nations Satellite Centre (UNOSAT).

Limitations

• Description metadata is limited; actual data quality requires manual inspection after download.
• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• The analysis is preliminary and explicitly noted as not validated by ground truth.

Provenance

Source

United Nations Satellite Centre (UNOSAT)

Collection Method

Satellite imagery analysis by UNITAR/UNOSAT.

Time Range

Imagery acquired 29 April 2015, following the 25 April 2015 earthquake.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-03-03 10:45:34.281115; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Muchok area, Western Region, Nepal.