Himalayan tragedy

The quake measuring 7.9 on Richter scale, which was followed by 16 aftershocks of magnitude 4.5 or greater, striking heavy casualties in Kathmandu and injuring thousand others. Hundreds were feared missing across the country.

“Army estimates death toll as much as 1457 so far,” Nepal’s Finance Minister Ram Sharan Mahat tweeted.

He said, “90 per cent of approximately 1000 homes and huts reduced to rubble in Barpak Larpak area.”

According to Nepalese Home Ministry figures, 150 people lost lives in neighbouring Bhaktapur, 250 in Sindhu, 67 in Lalitpur and 37 in Dhading district. Besides, 20 people were killed in the country’s eastern region, 33 in western region and rest in other parts of the Himalayan nation.

The earthquake around 11:56 am with epicentre at Lamjung, around 80 kilometers northwest of Kathmandu, had its impact in several cities in Bihar, West Bengal and UP and tremors were felt across vast stretches of east and northeast India. It was also felt in Southern and Western parts of India, China, Bhutan and as far as Pakistan and Bangladesh.

Miraculously, the famous 5th century Pashupatinath temple here was undamaged, while a number of old temples were razed.

Several buildings, most of them old, in the densely- populated Kathmandu Valley collapsed, killing hundreds. Over 200 bodies have been retrieved from the debris of two-century old nine-storey landmark Dharhara tower in the centre of the capital.

Kathmandu’s Darbar Square, a UNESCO World Heritage site, was completely damaged in the quake, which was the worst to hit Nepal and surrounding regions after the earthquake of 8.4 magnitude which occurred along the Nepal-Bihar border in 1934.

Video footage showed a number of buildings having caved in or developing huge cracks. Many of the city roads have suffered wide craters in the impact, affecting movement of vehicles and rescue operations.

Army, police and emergency workers were pressed into service for rescue of those trapped and rushing injured survivors to hospitals. Many of the injured could be seen suffering bleeding injuries covered in dust from the debris.

Indian Embassy spokesperson Abhay Kumar said some walls have collapsed in the impact of the 

earthquake and the embassy has set up two helplines +977 98511 07021, +977 98511 35141.

Fifty doctors have arrived from India to provide emergency services.

The daughter of a local employee in the Indian embassy died and his wife suffered serious injuries when a house in the mission complex in Kathmandu collapsed during the quake.

Fifty doctors have arrived from India to provide emergency services. India dispatched as many as four aircraft including a C-130 plane carrying three tonnes of relief supplies and a 40-member rescue team to Nepal. 

August 11, 2012: Twin earthquakes with a magnitude 6.3 and 6.4 left 306 dead and more than 3,000 injured near the Iranian city of Tabriz.

March 11, 2011: Nearly 18,900 were killed when a tsunami triggered by a massive magnitude 9.0 undersea quake slammed into the northeast coast of Japan, triggering a nuclear crisis at the Fukushima Daiichi atomic plant.

October 23, 2011: An earthquake of 7.2 magnitude rocked eastern Turkey, leaving more than 600 dead and at least 4,150 injured.

January 12, 2010: Magnitude 7.0 quake hit Haiti, leaving between 250,000 and 300,000 dead.

April 14, 2010: 6.9-magnitude quake hit Yushu county in northwest China’s Qinghai province leaving 3,000 people dead and missing.

May 12, 2008: A quake measuring 8.0 hit China’s southwest province of Sichuan, leaving more than 87,000 people dead or missing.

May 27, 2006: A powerful quake in Indonesia’s Yogyakarta region killed 6,000 and left 1.5 million homeless.

October 8, 2005: An earthquake of 7.6 killed more than 75,000 people, the vast majority of them in Pakistan’s North West Frontier Province and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir.

March 28, 2005: An earthquake on Indonesia’s Nias island off Sumatra left 900 dead.

December 26,2004: A massive undersea earthquake off the coast of Sumatra island triggered a tsunami which killed 220,000 in countries around the Indian Ocean, including 168,000 in Indonesia.

 

December 26, 2003: A quake measuring 6.7 hit the Iranian city of Bam, killing at least 31,884 people and injuring 18,000.

December 26, 2001: A massive 7.7 earthquake hit the western Indian state of Gujarat, killing 25,000 people and injuring 166,000.

September 30, 1993: 6.3-magnitude quake hit the western Indian state of Maharashtra, killing 7,601 and leaving hundreds injured.