Nepal Earthquake 2015: April 25's Deadly Disaster Literally Moved Mount Everest by a Whole Inch

The earthquake that destroyed homes and killed thousands of people in Nepal was powerful enough to move Mount Everest, Chinese authorities stated reported by the Chinese news agency, Xinhua.

According to the authorities, the April 25 earthquake shifted Mount Everest three centimeters - a little over an inch - southwest. The mountain's height remained the same at around 29,000 feet after the earthquake.

The data was collected from a satellite that the Chinese National Administration of Surveying, Mapping and Geoinformation set up back in 2005 in order to study geographical changes within the area.

"Everest is way out on the edge of that possible downward trough," Richard Briggs, a geologist at the U.S. Geological Survey said to Live Science, reported by Weather.com. "What moved this time was closer to Kathmandu. And those peaks, which are just a little bit smaller than Everest, moved over half a meter [more than 1.6 feet]."

Xinhua noted that since the mountain is on top of a collision belt where crustal movements are active, studying how any changes affect the climate, environment and ecology of East and South Asia could be important.

Ever since the satellite was installed, Mount Everest has moved an average of four cm per year between 2005 and 2015.

The earthquake, which had a magnitude of 7.8-8.1, killed more than 8,500 people and injured more than 23,000. It also triggered several avalanches on the mountain that killed 19 people.

The second earthquake, which happened on May 12, did not move the mountain.