No Earthquake Damage to Rammed Earth Monasteries

Rammed earth Kagbeni Monastery
Rammed earth Kagbeni Monastery

A nice lady here in Nepal just told me there was no earthquake damage to the rammed earth monasteries in the Himalayas after the recent earthquakes. In fact, most of these structures have survived earthquakes for centuries.

This is important because earthbag building is basically rammed earth in bags. Actually, I believe earthbag is stronger because of the added rebar, barbed wire and concrete bond beams.

Hemendra Bohra of Matoghar Builders, a local builder here sent me the following info and photo:
“Here are some pictures from my trip to Mustang some weeks ago. Kagbeni Monastery was built in 1429. Rammed earth is also popular in Ladhakh (India) and Bhutan.”

Regards, Hemendra

According to Narayan Acharya of Rammed Earth Solutions, none of their projects experienced any earthquake damage. Now they are building a rammed earth hospital that is very involved.
Rammed Earth Solutions

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