地理学家对尼泊尔地震并不惊讶

The recent aftershocks in Nepal was in some ways predictable, coming just over two weeks after an even larger quake in that country. So says a geographer with a background in geology who survived the May 25th event while at Mount Everest.

Twice in the span of 17 days, Nepal has confronted a magnitude 7+ earthquake.

"I think there's going to be a lot of damage obviously again. I think any structures that were compromised now were probably collapsed."

Jon Kedrowski lived through the first earthquake and can only imagine the impact of the second.

"Yeah, I just think it's kind of like a situation of kick your little brother when they're down," Jon Kedrowski , geographer & Nepal earthquake survivor, said.

The veteran mountain climber was at Mount Everest base camp on May 25th when that first earthquake violently shook the ground, triggering what proved to be a deadly avalanche.

"Sort of a combination of ice cracking, metal clashing, just the loudest sounds you can think of."
"It was really scary you know."

Kedrowski narrowly avoided the huge snow and ice cloud. He filmed this scene a short while later.

"Honestly, didn't know what to think. It was like wow, the whole camp's gone. A lot of expletives were said by myself and other teammates as we walked through," Jon Kedrowski , geographer & Nepal earthquake survivor, said.

The climber, with training in geology, turned scientist in the days that followed, collecting seismic data in the shadow of Everest, a mountain he's summited, a mountain that's a product of two huge tectonic plates colliding.

He says the Himalayas can also intensify an earthquake's impact.

"There's just more hazard associated with a shaking event. And the shaking's sort of the trigger."

Landslides, debris, poor building construction, Kedrowski saw first-hand how they all contributed to the damage in Nepal in late May.

"Earthquakes don't kill people. What kills people is all the things that can fall on you," Jon Kedrowski , geographer & Nepal earthquake survivor, said.

"So a lot of it has to do with the strength of the buildings and the quality of the building and engineering."

That quality is spotty even on a good day in Nepal, which is why Kedrowski says it's fortunate that the death toll in that country from two quakes now hasn't been much, much higher.