Abstract Velocity results from published papers, which are in different reference frame, are transferred into a self-consistent frame based on common GPS velocities of each result. We investigate the interseismic coupling of the rupture fault before the Nepal earthquake based on interseismic GPS velocities along a profile in N15°E direction, which runs across the rupture region of the 2015 Mw7.9 Nepal earthquake. We model the creeping fault as a planar semi-space dislocation embedded in elastic half-space, and invert the horizontal velocities to infer the preferred locking depth and slip rate. The preferred model indicates that interseismic deformation is induced by a fault dipping at 10°, buried at a depth of 22.5 km, with a slip rate of 19.0 mm/a. Then, near field coseismic displacements measured from GPS observations are presented. The largest horizontal displacement of 1.89 m was recorded at KKN4 in Nepal. Coseismic offset of 54 cm was measured in southern Tibetan plateau, which is the largest value measured in mainland China. The displacements decrease rapidly to less than 5.0 mm at GPS stations 400 km away from the epicenter. GPS derived coseismic displacements along the N15°E profile show that the offset near the fault trace is not the largest offset measured by GPS, indicating that the shallow part of the fault did not rupture during the Nepal earthquake. The horizontal coseismic offset profile can be modeled well using a buried rectangular dislocation model. Therefore, we infer the rupture fault of the Nepal earthquake may be the main Himalaya thrust (MHT), and the shallow parts did not rupture during the shake.
