Shiba Subedi

I’m a Postdoctoral Researcher at the Institute of Earth Sciences of the University of Lausanne. I recently completed Ph.D. in Earth Sciences from the University of Lausanne.

Since 2017, I am working on a project ‘Seismo-at-School in Nepal‘ under the supervision of György Hetényi. Nepal lies in the heart of the most active continental seismic zone, the Himalaya and is one of the countries on Earth with the highest seismic risk. Due to the collision of India and Eurasia, Nepal has experienced devastating earthquakes throughout history, claiming lives and causing significant damage. The latest 2015 Gorkha earthquake killed nearly 9,000 people and injured nearly 22,000. It was the worst natural disaster to strike Nepal since the 1934 earthquake. Furthermore, there is a segment which is identified as ‘seismic gap,’ where the last known great earthquake occurred in 1505, and recently scientists from the world argued that the energy is accumulated in that region which is sufficient to produce a great earthquake at any time in future.

The purpose of my Ph.D. project was to evaluate the feasibility by locally testing a bottom-up approach of seismology in schools. With special lectures to students, and by installing low-cost seismometers in schools, we hope to enhance awareness and preparedness of the people, and at the same time collect useful local shaking data. Currently, my aim is to extend the low-cost seismic network in Nepal across the country and to use collected data for education and research purposes in parallel.

Research foci

  • Receiver function
  • Crustal Imaging
  • Earthquake seismology
  • Earthquake detection and location
  • Education and preparedness

Further interests

  • Earthquake early-warning
  • Seismic Risk reduction

Education

Internship

        Nov 2016 – May 2017  Receiver function crustal imaging in Western Nepal at ENS, France

Publications

  • Subedi, S., & Hetényi, G. (2021). Precise Locating of the Great 1897 Shillong Plateau Earthquake Using Teleseismic and Regional Seismic Phase Data. The Seismic Record, 1(3), 135-144, doi: 10.1785/032021003.
  • Subedi, S., Denton, P., Michailos, K., and Hetényi, G., (2021). Making seismology accessible to the public in Nepal: an earthquake location tutorial for education purposes. Bulletin of Nepal Geological Society, 38. ISSN 2676-1386 (Print); ISSN 2676-1394 (Online). 
  • Subedi, S., & Hetényi, G. (2021). The representation of earthquakes in Hindu religion: a literature review to improve educational communications in Nepal. Frontiers in Communication, 126, doi: 10.3389/fcomm.2021.668086.
  • Subedi, S., Hetényi, G., and Shackleton, R.(2020). Impact of an educational program on earthquake awareness and preparedness in Nepal. Geosci. Commun., 3, 279–290, doi: 10.5194/gc-3-279-2020.
  • Lecocq, T., Hicks, S. P., Van Noten, K., van Wijk, K., Koelemeijer, P., De Plaen, R. S., … & Arroyo-Solórzano, M. (2020). Global quieting of high-frequency seismic noise due to COVID-19 pandemic lockdown measures. Science, 369(6509), 1338-1343. doi: 10.1126/science.abd2438
  • Subedi, S., Hetényi, G., Denton, P., & Sauron, A. (2020). Seismology at School in Nepal: a program for educational and citizen seismology through a low-cost seismic network. Frontiers in Earth Science, 8, 73. doi:10.3389/feart.2020.00073
  • Subedi S, Hetényi G, Vergne J, Bollinger L, Lyon-Caen H, Farra V, Adhikari LB, Gupta R (2018) Imaging the Moho and the Main Himalayan Thrust in Western Nepal with receiver functions. Geophys Res Lett 45:13222-13230. doi:10.1029/2018GL080911 
  • Hetényi G, Epard JL, Colavitti L, Hirzel AH, Kiss D, Petri B, Scarponi M, Schmalholz SM, Subedi S (2018) Spatial relation of surface faults and crustal seismicity: a first comparison in the region of Switzerland. Acta Geod Geophys 53:439-461. doi:10.1007/s40328-018-0229-9

Awarded Grants:

  • Royal Astronomical Society (RAS) Grant, the United Kingdom, 2018
  • AGU 100 years Celebration major Grant, USA,  2019

Invited Speaker

  • T. Lecocq, E. Larose, M. Miller and S. Subedi. Monitoring COVID-19 Lockdown with Seismology, Seismological Society of America Annual Meeting, Plenary session, (Online) USA, April 23, 2021.
  • S. Subedi and G. Hetényi. School seismology in Nepal for Earthquake Risk Reduction, Geoscience Information For Teachers (GIFT) Workshop, India, August 19-21, 2021.

Conference/workshop

(from most recent to oldest)

  • S. Subedi, G. Hetényi, A. Sauron and P. Denton. Educational seismology in Nepali schools: tailored solutions to start a program, EGU 2020 General Assembly, Remote session, (Vienna) Austria, May 4-8, 2020.
  • S. Subedi, G. Hetényi, A. Sauron and P. Denton. The Seismology-at-School in Nepal Project: A Low-Cost Seismic and Educational network, 27th International Union of Geodesy and Geosciences (IUGG) General Assembly, poster presentation, (Montréal), Canada, July 12, 2019.
  • S. Subedi, G. Hetényi, A. Sauron and P. Denton. Seismology-at-School in Nepal, seismological and educational aspects, 1st International Workshop on Educational Seismology, oral presentation, (Pokhara), Nepal, April 16-17, 2019.
  • S. Subedi, G. Hetényi, A. Sauron and P. Denton. Seismology-at-School in Nepal: a first regional educational and seismic network, 100th American Geophysical Union Fall Meeting, poster presentation, (Washington – D.C.), USA, December 14, 2018.
  • S. Subedi, G. Hetényi, A. Sauron and P. Denton. Seismology-at-School in Nepal: a first regional educational and seismic network, 16th Swiss Geoscience Meeting, poster presentation, (Bern) Switzerland, December 1, 2018
  • S. Subedi, G. Hetényi, A. Sauron. The “Seismology-at-school in Nepal” project,  33rd HKT workshop, oral session, (Lausanne) Switzerland, September 11, 2018.
  • S. Subedi, G. Hetényi, A. Sauron. Low-cost seismic network in Nepal, International Workshop on Gorkha Workshop Memorial day, oral session, (Kathmandu), Nepal, April 27, 2018.
  • S. Subedi, G. Hetényi, A. Sauron. Low-cost seismic network in Nepali School,  EGU 2018 General Assembly, PICO session, (Vienna) Austria, April 11, 2018.
  • S. Subedi, G. Hetényi, A. Sauron. Seismology-at-School in Nepal, Education and Citizen Seismology Discussion Workshop, Short presentation, (London) United Kingdom, February 15-16, 2018.
  • S. Subedi, G. Hetényi, A. Sauron. Seismo-at-School in Nepal, 2nd National Conference of The Community for Science Education, Presentation session, (Bucharest) Romania, November 4, 2017.

Outreach 

Field Experiences

  • Sites visit field trip, 12 October 2021 – 30 November 2021, Nepal
  • Gravity Field Campaign, 17-26 March 2021, Balmuccia, Italy
  • Network extension field trip, 09 Nov 2020 – 07 January 2021, Nepal
  • Follow-up field trip, 06-28 October 2019, Nepal
  • Nepal School Seismology Network Installation, 18 April – 05 June 2019, Nepal
  • Higher and Lesser Himalaya visit with a Geological group of University of Lausanne, 31 Oct-03 Nov 2018, Nepal
  • Group field visit with HKT 2018 participants, 7-9 September 2018, Western Swiss Alps, Switzerland
  • Sites visit and pilot station installation (seismo@school in Nepal), 17 April –2 June 2018,  Nepal
  • Seismology Field campaign, Nov 2018,  Ivrea-Verbano zone, Italy
  • GPX Field Trip, October 12-16, 2015, Chambon-la-Foret, France

Website of the program:seismoschoolnp.org