A continent-sized collision
India is still ramming into Asia - and the Himalaya takes the strain.
The Himalaya exists because India is colliding with the rest of Asia and pushing under it. That collision jams the Main Himalayan Thrust, storing strain along the whole mountain front. Long stretches have not produced their great earthquake in centuries.
What is happening at Himalayan Front
India is driving northward into Eurasia by a few centimetres a year. The crust piles up into the Himalaya, and the fault at the base of the range - the Main Himalayan Thrust - locks and loads.
When a locked section fails, it produces a great earthquake along the mountain front. Several segments are thought to hold enough stored strain for a very large event, threatening dense populations across Nepal and northern India.
The hazard record here
THE RECORD HERE
A magnitude 8.0 earthquake struck here in 1934.
Epicentre: 1934 Bihar-Nepal Earthquake.
Live figures from the QuakeMate hazard API - USGS earthquake catalog, NOAA tsunami database and published recurrence estimates. Some fields are blank where there is no record.
Recent earthquakes at Himalayan Front
- 4.5NEPAL1 week ago · 19/07/2026, 10:45:30 · 10 km deep
- 4.546 km NE of Tulsīpur, Nepal1 week ago · 19/07/2026, 10:45:30 · 10 km deep
- 3.8NEPAL2 weeks ago · 16/07/2026, 18:23:23 · 259 km deep
- 4.4WESTERN XIZANG2 weeks ago · 11/07/2026, 21:23:46 · 10 km deep
- 4.0NEPAL1 week ago · 21/07/2026, 22:55:57 · 10 km deep
- 4.1WESTERN XIZANG1 day ago · 30/07/2026, 19:20:06 · 90 km deep
2 more earthquakes at Himalayan Front
Open the QuakeMate app to see every quake here, sorted and mapped - plus real-time alerts when a new one strikes.
Notable events
4.5Recent2026M4.5 - NEPAL1 week ago · tap for full data1934
The M8.0 Nepal-Bihar earthquake devastated the region.
2005
The M7.6 Kashmir earthquake killed tens of thousands.
2015
The M7.8 Gorkha earthquake struck near Kathmandu.
What scientists watch
GPS networks measure how fast the range is being squeezed, and paleoseismology digs out the dates of past great ruptures.
Staying ahead of it
Great Himalayan quakes threaten dense mountain populations with landslides as well as shaking - fast alerts buy precious seconds.
Get QuakeMate freeGet warned before the next one at Himalayan Front.
QuakeMate sends a push the instant the ground moves - plus tsunami and volcano alerts. Free to download.
Himalayan Front: common questions
Why is the Himalaya so earthquake-prone?
It sits on the collision between the Indian and Eurasian plates. The relentless convergence locks the Main Himalayan Thrust and stores strain that releases in large earthquakes along the range.
Is a great Himalayan earthquake expected?
Several sections of the front are thought to hold enough accumulated strain for a very large earthquake. The timing cannot be predicted, which is why monitoring and warning are emphasised.
Related hazard zones
Earthquake data via the QuakeMate API (USGS, EMSC and regional agencies). Historical notes summarise well-established events; magnitudes and dates follow the published record. Live figures may be revised.