Nepal earthquake

Landlocked, mountainous, with poor infrastructure, Nepal is going to need all the help it can get in the coming weeks

A massive tragedy is unfolding in Nepal following the Richter 7.9 earthquake on April 25 that had its epicentre between Pokhara and Kathmandu. The country’s only international airport is closed and being assessed for damage, which is going to severely limit opportunities to get aid and relief supplies into the country. The ‘quake was felt across the entire region with Delhi, India, being shaken for up to a minute and at least 13 are reported dead as a result. The death toll in Nepal has risen to nearly 700 and that figure is expected to rise, possibly considerably so. The Mount Everest base camp has been destroyed, and the Nepal tourism office is saying that there have probably been deaths of local people as well as foreign climbers on and around Mount Everest.

Durbar Square, which is a Unesco world heritage site, has been devastated and the Dharahara Tower reduced to little more than a stump of rubble. Much of Kathmandu is made up of tightly packed habitation, poorly constructed and vulnerable to seismic activity. It sits on one of the most seismically active regions in the world, with the Himalayas being formed by the Indian tectonic plate driving under the Eurasian tectonic plate. They converge at a rate of about 4-5 centimeters a year. Casualty estimates, even with the biggest quakes, generally start off relatively small, but this was a large event close to the surface, 10-15km down which would have amplified the shaking effect. There were at least 14 aftershocks in the hours immediately following the main event, the largest of these being 6.6 which will have further damaged already fragile buildings. Pakistan is earthquake-prone as well, and Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has already offered to do whatever may be possible to support and assist Nepal at this time of utmost need. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has expressed similar sentiments and also offered assistance. Landlocked, mountainous and with a poor infrastructure, Nepal is going to need all the help it can get in the coming weeks. We support the government in reaching out at this time of crisis.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 26^th, 2015.

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