Udaypur Earthquake

• 721 deaths
• 22 districts of eastern Nepal affected
• Total direct loss of 5 billion rupees
• Earthquake considered a major concern for the first time in the country

Start of the National Building Code Development Project (BCDP)

• Future founders of NSET involved

Nepal observed the International Decade for Natural Disaster Reduction (IDNDR) Day for the first time

First World Seismic Safety Initiative (WSSI) Workshop in Bangkok

• Future founders of NSET participated

NSET established

First National Conference on Disaster Management

High Level Meeting organized by NSET and WSSI in Kathmandu

Kathmandu Municipal Mayor participated in Istanbul Workshop on Issues in Urban Risk

NSET registered as a non-governmental organization with His Majesty's Government of Nepal

NSET became a member of the IDNDR national committee

The National Action Plan for Disaster Management prepared

National Building Code drafted

BCDP released

• consolidated earthquake catalogue
• earthquake hazard maps

NSET and GeoHazards International conceptualized the Kathmandu Valley Earthquake

Risk Management Project (KVERMP)
First earthquake safety pamphlet published

NSET inducted into the International Association of Earthquake Engineering as national member during the 11th World Conference on Earthquake Engineering (WCEE)

First training course for school teachers on Earthquake Preparedness

KVERMP launched as national project under the Asian Urban Disaster Mitigation Program of Asian Disaster Preparedness Center

NSET moved into its present office premises

His Majesty’s Government of Nepal declared 16 January as national Earthquake Safety Day (ESD)

Kathmandu Valley Earthquake Scenario published

NSET and US Army engineers conducted preliminary assessment of structural and functional vulnerability of Bir Hospital, Teku Hospital and Lincoln School

Seismic vulnerability assessment of 1100 buildings of 643 public schools in Kathmandu Valley completed

Building Council Act adopted by the Parliament
Workshop on Health and Medical Implications of

Earthquake Disaster was organized for the first time

Kathmandu Valley Earthquake Risk Management Action Plan finalized

Set up of the Disaster Management Section in Kathmandu Metropolitan Office

NSET launched the School Earthquake Safety Program (SESP)

• Bhuwaneshwori Lower Secondary School – the first school to be retrofitted
• Proved the technical, social, and economic feasibility of retrofitting public buildings

First ESD

• Prime Minister released the Kathmandu Valley Earthquake Scenario and Risk Management Action Plan
• First earthquake safety exhibition

Completed the first Environmental Mapping Project in Madhyapur Municipality

NSET, Ministry of Health, and World Health Organization (WHO) conducted the training course on Mass Casualty Management

NSET participated in 2nd WSSI Bangkok Workshop, and the closing meetings of IDNDR in Bangkok, Mexico, and Paris

Start of the Kathmandu Valley Earthquake Risk Management Action Plan Implementation Project

First WSSI Fellowship awarded to NSET’s General Secretary

2nd ESD

• Regional Symposium on Experience in Earthquake Risk Management

SESP in

• Vaisnabi Secondary School
• Upayogi Primary School
• Gadgade Primary School

Completed the Kirtipur Environmental Mapping Project

Set up of a ward-level disaster management committee

NSET participated in 12th WCEE in New Zealand

3rd ESD

• Late His Majesty King Birendra granted audience to NSET and foreign delegates

NSET received the United Nations Sasakawa Award for Disaster Reduction - Certificate of Merit

Participated in the WSSI/Earthquake and Megacities Initiatives Inter-disciplinary team to Gujarat following the Gujarat Earthquake

Launched a half-hour weekly earthquake safety program on a community radio station

The Nepal-Gujarat Mason Exchange and Training Program implemented with Sustainable Environment and Ecological Development Society and NGOS Kobe

Emergency Preparedness and Disaster Response Plan for the Health Sector drafted

Organized the National Training on Urban Disaster Mitigation

Collaboration with Room to Read on earthquake-resistant construction of two schools in Dhading District

NSET and UN Center for Regional Development initiated the Kobe-Kathmandu Students Collaboration on School Earthquake Safety

NSET became a member of the Disaster Health Working Group, Ministry of Health

Published a manual for designers and builders on Protection of Educational Buildings Against Earthquakes

Commenced a weekly structural safety program for house owners and builders

Ministry of Home Affairs completed, in cooperation with the Japanese International Cooperation Agency, the study on Earthquake Disaster Mitigation in the Kathmandu Valley, Kingdom of Nepal

4th ESD

• First ever mass casualty drill involving the emergency rescue responders and hospitals
  Seismic vulnerability assessment of 14 hospitals undertaken with Ministry of Health and WHO
  Organized the Asian Seismological Commission 2002
• 4th General Assembly of the Asian Seismological Commission
• Symposium on Seismology, Earthquake Hazard Assessment and Risk Management
• Pre-Symposium Training Course on Earthquake Vulnerability Reduction for Cities

NSET participated in Regional Workshop on Networking and Collaboration among NGOs of Asian countries in Disaster Reduction and Response

KVERMP completed, the Municipality Earthquake Risk Management Project conceptualized as the replication and consolidation of KVERMP

5th ESD
Exhibitions held in Bhaktapur

Second phase of Program for Enhancement of Emergency Response (PEER) started in March 2003 for5 countries including Nepal

Five more schools retrofitted under SESP program

Pre-Positioned Emergency Rescue Stores (PPERS) established in eight communities in Kathmandu. Local volunteers trained

Non-structural Vulnerability Assessment of nine hospitals conducted, methodology published

Half-hour weekly earthquake safety program launched with Annapurna FM Radio of Pokhara

MERMP implemented in four more municipalities as replication of KVERMP under the AUDMP program

Laitpur DDC awards land to NSET for building a community learning centre

DesInventar system introduced in Nepal with assistance of UNDP/BCPR. Inventory of natural disasters of the country for the last 33 years (1971-2003) prepared and analyzed

RADIUS established in Kathmandu Metropolitan City as a planning tool in cooperation with UNESCO

NSET experience shared widely in SAARC and other Asian Countries

Lalitpur Sub Metropolitan City became the first municipality of Nepal to announce mandatory implementation of Nepal National Building Code via building permit process

NSET awarded Tech Museum Award Microsoft Education Award category for the innovative Shake Table Technology

Seven papers on earthquake risk management in Nepal presented by 5 NSET professionals to the 13 WCEE in Vancouver, Canada

Kathmandu Valley Earthquake Preparedness Initiative (KVEPI) started jointly by American Red Cross, Nepal Red Cross Society and NSET as a preparedness and capacity building program in 10 locations of Kathmandu Valley under OFDA support

National Disaster database of the period 1971 – 2003 was prepared by NSET with the support from UNDP Nepal and BCPR India using “DesInventar” methodology

For effective ERM efforts in Nepal, NSET signed Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with

• Department of Urban Development and Building Construction (DUDBC)
• Nepal Red Cross Society
• Diploma Engineers’ Association, Nepal (DEAN)
• Nepal Forum of Environmental Journalists (NEFEJ)
• Tribhuvan University, Teaching Hospital
• Kathmandu University

Training courses developed for masons, technicians, engineers, policy/decision makers and schoolteachers. Training programs started.

“Guideline for Seismic Vulnerability Assessment of Hospitals” published jointly by NSET, WHO and Ministry of Health