A crack in a road near Kathmandu caused by the earthquake. EPA/Hemanta Shrestha April 27, 2015 The science behind the Nepal earthquake Mike Sandiford, University of Melbourne; CP Rajendran, Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research, and Kristin Morell, University of Victoria The earthquake that struck Nepal on Saturday was caused by the same forces that built the Himalayas, and science is helping predict where the next quake might strike.