Major quake devastates Nepal
Rescuers carry a victim Saturday after a tower collapsed during a 7.8-magnitude earthquake in Kath- mandu, Nepal. The temblor killed nearly 2,000 people, including a Google engineer from the Bay Area climbing Mount Everest, and shattered modern houses and ancient temples. More than two dozen aftershocks jolted the area after the first quake, which struck just before noon. Officials say the death toll will rise as reports arrive from distant areas.
KATHMANDU, Nepal — Tens of thousands of people spent the night in the open under a chilly and thunderous sky after a powerful earthquake devastated Nepal on Saturday, killing nearly 2,000 across the region, collapsing modern houses and ancient temples and causing a slide on Mount Everest. Officials warned the death toll would rise as more reports come in from distant areas.
Strong aftershocks continued to jolt the region as the rescue operation got into full swing at daybreak Sunday, with workers sending out tents and relief supplies in trucks and helicopters. Most areas were without power and water.
‘ This is never-ending’
The death toll was at least 1,970, including 721 in Kathmandu alone, authorities said. The 7.8-magnitude earthquake, which originated outside the capital, was the worst tremor to hit the poor South Asian nation in over 80 years. It was strong enough to be felt in parts of neighboring India, Bangladesh, China’s region of Tibet and Pakistan, where a total of 60 people died.
“There were at least three big quakes at night and early morning. How can we feel safe? This is never-ending, and everyone is scared and worried,” Sundar Sah said. “I hardly got much sleep. I was waking up every few hours and glad that I was alive.”
As Nepal trembled, residents fled homes and buildings in panic. Walls tumbled, trees swayed, power lines came crashing down and large cracks opened up on streets and walls. Clouds of dust swirled.
Within hours of the quake, hospitals filled up with hundreds of injured people, and by Sunday, their numbers swelled to nearly 5,000. With organized relief and rescue lacking, many survivors were brought to hospitals by friends and relatives in motorized rickshaws, flatbed trucks and cars. Residents used their bare hands, crowbars and other tools to dig through rubble and reach survivors.
More than two dozen aftershocks jolted the area after the first quake, which struck just before noon. At the time, Shrish Vaidya, who runs an advertising agency, was in his two-story house outside Kathmandu with his parents.
“It is hard to describe. The house was shaking like crazy. We ran out and it seemed like the road was heaving up and down,” said Vaidya, 46. “I don’t remember anything like this before. Even my parents can’t remember anything this bad.”
Toll continues to rise
Thousands of people spent the night at Tudikhel, a vast open ground in the middle of Kathmandu, just next to the old city that is lined with historic buildings and narrow lanes. Now it is in ruins.
“We hardly slept through the night. It was cold and it rained briefly and it was uncomfortable, but I am glad I brought my family out to the open,” said Ratna Singh, a vegetable vendor who was cuddled under a blanket with his wife and son.
Indian Air Force planes were allowed to bring in 43 tons of relief material, including tents and foods, and nearly 200 rescuers, India’s External Affairs Ministry spokesman Vikas Swarup said.
Hospitals in the Kathmandu Valley were overcrowded, running out of room for storing dead bodies and running out of emergency supplies, the United Nations said in a statement.
“The reports of the devastation are still coming in, and the numbers of people killed, injured and affected by this earthquake continue to rise,” U.N. chief Ban Ki-Moon said. “It is clear that very many lives have been lost. There has also been significant damage to Nepal’s irreplaceable cultural heritage.”
While the extent of the damage is yet to be known, the quake will probably strain the resources of the poor country best known for Everest, the highest mountain in the world, and its rich Hindu culture. The economy of Nepal, a nation of 27.8 million people, relies heavily on tourism, principally trekking and Himalayan mountain climbing.
A mountaineering guide, Ang Tshering, said an avalanche after the quake swept a base camp where expeditions were preparing to scale Everest, flattening tents and killing at least 17 climbers and guides and leaving an unknown number injured and missing and others cut off.
Carsten Lillelund Pedersen, a Dane who was climbing the Everest with a Belgian, Jelle Veyt, said on his Facebook page that they were at Khumbu Icefall , a rugged area of collapsed ice and snow close to base camp at 16,500 feet when the earthquake hit. “Right now, it is pretty chaotic and we try to help those injured,” he said.
Destructive power
The U.S. Geological Survey put the magnitude of the quake at 7.8. It said the quake hit at 11:56 a.m. local time at Lamjung, about 50 miles northwest of Kathmandu. Its depth was only 7 miles, the largest shallow quake since the 8.2 temblor off the coast of Chile on April 1, 2014. The shallower the quake the more destructive power it carries.
A magnitude 7 quake is capable of widespread and heavy damage while an 8 magnitude quake can cause tremendous damage. This means Saturday’s quake — with the same magnitude as the one that hit San Francisco in 1906 — was about 16 times more powerful than the 7.0 quake that devastated Haiti in 2010.