More than 1,500 people were killed by a powerful earthquake that struck Nepal on Saturday.
The earthquake – which measured 7.8 on the Richter scale – wrecked houses, levelled centuries-old temples and triggered avalanches on Mount Everest.
At least 18 people were killed on the mountain, and hundreds of tourists and guides are now trapped or buried in snow and ice there as rescue parties struggle to reach them.
One climber, Alex Gavan, tweeted that he had to run for his life after an avalanche struck Everest’s base camp and reported that many had died and many more were badly injured.
He appealed for urgent help to save those hurt. Mohan Krishna Sapkota, a government official, also appealed for help for Nepal.
“We are facing a tremendous crisis here and it is hard to even assess what the death toll and the extent of damage could be,” he said.
Relief efforts were being hampered by a collapse in communications, raising fears that a widespread humanitarian disaster was unravelling across the impoverished Himalayan nation of 28 million.
“This is a very large earthquake in a significantly populated region with infrastructure that has been damaged in past earthquakes,” said US Geological Survey seismologist Paul Earle.
The Nepalese government made an urgent appeal for foreign help, with India sending in military aircraft with medical equipment and relief teams.
The UK deployed an eight-strong team of humanitarian experts, including disaster response and search-and-rescue specialists. David Cameron had earlier tweeted that the UK would do everything it could to help.
The earthquake occurred a few minutes before noon and rumbled across the densely populated Kathmandu Valley, rippled through the capital and spread north towards the Himalayas and Tibet, and west towards the historic city of Lahore in Pakistan.
A magnitude 6.6 aftershock struck an hour later and smaller aftershocks continued to jolt the region for hours.
Residents ran out of buildings in panic when the earthquake struck. Walls tumbled, large cracks opened on streets and walls, towers collapsed and clouds of dust began to swirl all around.
“Our village has been almost wiped out,” said Vim Tamang, a resident of Manglung, near the epicentre. “Most of our houses are either buried by landslide or damaged by shaking.” He said that half of the village’s population was missing or dead. “All the villagers have gathered in the open area. We don’t know what to do.”
Indian tourist Devyani Pant was in a Kathmandu coffee shop when “suddenly the tables started trembling and paintings on the wall fell to the ground. I screamed and rushed outside,” she told Reuters. Later she reported that she could see three bodies of monks who had been trapped in the debris of a collapsed building. “We are trying to pull the bodies out and look for anyone who is trapped,” she said.
At Bir Emergency Hospital, doctors were fighting to treat the wounded and save the lives of dozens of badly injured victims of the tremor. Gajendra Mani Shah, a doctor, said he was dealing mainly with head traumas and limb injuries from falling rubble. He said the hospital had treated about 400 patients so far and that at least 50 had died. People were lying in rows on mattresses, surrounded by bloodsoaked tissues, and lined the corridors, hooked up to intravenous drips.
Another doctor, Erabesh Gyawali, said he rushed to the hospital after the first tremor hit. He and his wife were riding their scooter when the earthquake struck and were thrown off, narrowly missing being hit by falling rubble.
Pushpa Das, a Kathmandu labourer, was injured when a wall collapsed on him as he ran from his house. “It was very scary. The earth was moving,” he told reporters as he waited for treatment outside one hospital. As he spoke, dozens more showed up with injuries, mostly from falling bricks. Kathmandu’s international airport was shut down.
A Swedish woman, Jenny Adhikari, who lives in Nepal, told the Swedish newspaper Aftonbladet that she was riding a bus in the town of Melamchi, north-east of Kathmandu, when the earth began to move. “A huge stone crashed only about 20m from the bus,” she was quoted as saying. “All the houses around me have tumbled down. I think there are a lot of people who have died.”
Subarna Khadka was bathing when the first tremor happened, but couldn’t escape because the earthquake jammed his bathroom door. “I almost lost my hope of life. I was trapped. But my wife rescued me once the shaking got quiet. I could only pray to God for life.”
At the main hospital in Kathmandu, volunteers formed human chains to clear the way for ambulances to bring in the injured, while across the city, rescuers scrabbled through the rubble of destroyed buildings, among them ancient, wooden Hindu temples, in search of victims.
Thousands in Kathmandu were bedding down in the open air after Nepal’s national radio warned people to stay outdoors because of the danger that more aftershocks might occur. “Everyone is scared of a repeat,” said 29-year-old Rabin Shakya. “I rushed outside when I felt the earthquake. I was terrified. I’ve stayed outside all day.”
On one patch of ground in Kathmandu, three children huddled under a blanket. Ragan Karki, 16, said he and his siblings had come there to seek shelter for the night and were waiting for their parents to join them. They had been in their third-floor flat when the earthquake struck. Ragan’s 12-year-old brother, Ryan, added: “I was scared, but I didn’t cry.”
In the community of Nyakha Chowk, 1,500 residents assembled around a Buddhist temple for the night where dinner was being cooked in two giant pots. “Everyone has made a donation,” said Vidho Ratna.
While the scale of the disaster has yet to be ascertained, the earthquake is likely to put a huge strain on the resources of this poor country, best known for the highest mountain in the world and its rich Hindu culture. The economy of Nepal is heavily dependent on tourism, principally trekking and Himalayan mountain climbing.
Among the buildings destroyed by the earthquake was the Unesco-listed Dharahara Tower. The 60m tower was built in 1832 for the Queen of Nepal. Yesterday, all that remained of the lighthouse-like building was a jagged stump just 10m high. Sujata Thapa, 22, said he was passing Dharahara when the earthquake struck. “I stood still. In a few seconds, I saw Dharahara falling down. People were screaming.” The tower was a popular tourist destination and every weekend hundreds of people paid to go up to the viewing platform on its eighth storey. It is not yet clear how many tourists were on the tower when it collapsed, though reports indicate that several bodies were later extracted from the ruins.
The earthquake was also felt in India’s capital of New Delhi and several other Indian cities. India’s prime minister, Narendra Modi, called a meeting of top government officials to review the damage and how to respond in parts of India that felt strong tremors. The states of Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Sikkim, which share a border with Nepal, have reported building damage. Pakistan’s prime minister, Nawaz Sharif, offered “all possible help” that Nepal may need.
Christian Aid announced it had made an initial £50,000 available to help victims of the earthquake and added that it would launch an appeal.
“The earthquake is the nightmare scenario which we have long discussed and wondered if we could make major improvements before a catastrophe occurred,” said Dr Ilan Kelman, of the Institute for Risk and Disaster Reduction, at University College London.
Source: The Guardian