Using
data from the GPS stations, an accelerometer that measures ground motion in Kathmandu,
data from seismological stations around the world, and
radar images collected by
orbiting satellites, an international team of scientists led by Caltech has pieced together the first complete account of what physically happened during the Gorkha earthquake — a picture that explains how the large earthquake wound up leaving the majority of low - story buildings unscathed while devastating some treasured taller structures.