Nepal: The Disaster
Tracing steps back to when the earthquake occurred
Nepal
Dharahara Tower
Dharahara Tower was erected in 1832 as a watchtower for the queen. The lighthouse-looking watchtower once offered panoramic views of Kathmandu Valley.
Kathmandu Durbar Square
Patan Durbar Square
Day 1 : As it happened
- More than 1,000 people have been reported dead after a huge 7.9 magnitude earthquake hit Nepal.
- The country’s deputy prime minister, Bamdev Gautam, has declared a state of emergency and appealed for humanitarian assistance across the region.
- 18 climbers were found dead on Mount Everest after the tremor triggered an avalanche. Many more are trapped.
- The total death toll has risen quickly throughout the day, and is now thought to include at least 634 in the Kathmandu Valley and 300 more in the capital.
- 36 people have also been reported dead in India, 12 in China, four in Bangladesh and six in Tibet.
- The quake caused dozens of buildings in Kathmandu to collapse, including the historic Dharahara Tower.
- The city’s main hospital is overwhelmed by casualties and residents are facing a night on the streets with nowhere to go.
- Indian prime minister Narendra Modi has ordered an immediate dispatch of relief and medical teams to Nepal, and the evacuation of Indian tourists.
- UK foreign secretary Philip Hammond said the government was in close contact with Nepal, and the British Embassy is offering assistance to the authorities and British Nationals in the country.
Day 2 : The Aftermath
Rescue teams face challenge as Nepal quake toll surpasses 2,300
Aid groups and governments intensified efforts to help Nepal on Sunday after a 7.8 magnitude earthquake devastated the capital Kathmandu and surrounding areas the day before.
European, Asian and North American governments sent emergency response teams to Nepal as the country struggles to cope with the disaster. However, blocked roads, collapsed buildings, and continuing aftershocks pose major setbacks for emergency crews searching for survivors in the capital and cut-off rural areas. "Communication is down in many areas. Widespread destruction, rubble and landslides are preventing access to provide aid in many villages," the Australian Red Cross said in a statement.
"Tragically, more bodies are being pulled from collapsed buildings every hour," the statement added. "Communication systems are congested and hospitals are crowded and are running out of room for storing dead bodies," Oxfam's Australia chief executive Helen Szoke told AFP.
Reasons
Over about a minute, the rupture propagated east by some 130km and south by around 60km, breaking a fault segment some 15,000 square kilometres in area, with as much as 3m slip in places.
The plates across this segment of the Himalaya are converging at a rate of about 2cm this year. This slip released the equivalent of about a century of built up strain.
Belts
Continental Collision
Nepal earthquake map
How earthquake safety measures could have saved thousands of lives in Nepal
Earthquake engineers often say earthquakes don’t kill people, collapsing buildings do. The tragic loss of life that followed the huge earthquake in Nepal on April 25 occurred despite the fact that the country is among the world’s leaders in community-based efforts to reduce disaster risk. But poverty, corruption, and poor governance have all led to a failure to enforce building codes – as has a shortage of skilled engineers, planners and architects.
Sadly the country was on its way to deploying knowledge and skills to tackle its long-term vulnerability just as the ground shook.
To keep buildings standing, it is essential to have adequate building and planning codes, as well as proper training and certification for professionals such as engineers, architects, and planners. But having certification and codes on paper does not ensure implementation or compliance. Nepal does, after all, have some of these things. Laws and regulations must also be monitored and enforced. That is not easy in a country such as Nepal, which has isolated villages, a history of conflict and many governance difficulties.
Affected Houses
Precauations
Awareness
References
Project by : Rebeca Monis
Subject : Social Science
Teacher : Ms. Meera Jayaraj
Class : 10-ASchool : Our Own Indian School
Email: monis.rebeca@gmail.com