UPDATED 26 April 2015 to reflect new USGS ShakeMap results; this has resulted to some changes in the landslide susceptibility pattern in Tom Robinson’s model

The Mw 7.9 Nepal earthquake on 25 April 2015 appears to have occurred on a shallowly north-dipping thrust fault beneath the Himalayas of central Nepal. The steep topography and high relief in the area of the epicentre, and the high intensity of shaking that was felt, mean that thousands of landslides are likely to have been triggered by the earthquake. Based on past experience of earthquakes in steep mountainous terrain, like the 2005 Kashmir and 2008 Wenchuan earthquakes, some of these landslides will be large enough to create temporary dams across rivers in the area. The lakes created by these dams are particularly hazardous because they can drain without warning, usually within a few days of filling up, due to collapse of the unstable dam material.

Mapping the landslides will require satellite imagery taken after the earthquake. In the meantime, it’s useful to see what areas are likely to have been most affected by landsliding. The images below show the outputs of two different models of landslide susceptibility – that is, the probably that a landslide will have occurred in any particular place. Susceptibility in these models is determined by the intensity of the shaking (derived from the USGS ShakeMap estimates,http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/eventpage/us20002926#impact_shakemap), the steepness of the topography, the position of a given location on a hillside (because shaking tends to be greater at the tops of ridges than in neighbouring valleys), and the aspect (the direction in which the hillside faces).

A spate of hydroelectric dam building in Nepal means that future earthquakes could send inland tsunamis flooding down the steep mountain valleys, writes Michael Buckley. Disaster was averted in last month's quake - a badly damaged dam was not yet filled. But despite the risks and the damage to river ecology, tourism and rural livelihoods, there's no sign of any policy shift.

Thousands of people have fled to safety following a landslide in western Nepal which blocked the flow of a river.

The Kali Gandaki River in Myagdi district, about 140km (90 miles) north-west of the capital, Kathmandu, has created a deep and growing new lake.