More than 2,263 have reportedly died after a 7.8 magnitude earthquake hit Nepal, the tiny Himalayan country, which is the gateway to Mount Everest. The quake struck this morning 50 miles west of Kathmandu in an area between the capital and the town of Pokhran.
Tens of thousands of people prepared to spend the night in the open under a chilly and thundery sky after a powerful earthquake shook Nepal on Saturday, killing thousands of people, collapsing modern houses and centuries-old temples, and triggering a landslide on the slopes of Mount Everest. Officials said the death toll will rise as more reports from far-flung areas come in.
The magnitude 7.8 earthquake, which originated outside the capital Kathmandu, was the worst tremor to hit the poor South Asian nation in over 80 years.
It was so powerful that it was felt all across the northern part of neighboring India, Bangladesh, Tibet and Pakistan where a total of 50 people died. The death toll in Nepal was 1,130, but it is almost certain to rise as per the source.
More than two dozen aftershocks jolted the area after the first quake, which struck just before noon.Thousands of people were spending the night at Tudikhel, a vast open ground in the middle of Kathmandu, just next to the old city that is lined with old buildings and narrow lanes. Now it is in ruins.
The quake has wreaked havoc in Kathmandu, reducing notable heritage structures and other buildings in the capital to rubble. The city’s Durbar Square, a plaza where coronations of the former kingdom used to take place and which is now a UNESCO World Heritage Site, has been extensively damaged. So has the Dharahara Tower, a popular tourist attraction, which is similar to India’s Qutab Minar. Kathmandu’s airport has been closed.
Hundreds of people buy tickets on weekends to go up to the viewing platform on the eighth story, but it was not clear how many were up there when the tower collapsed. Video footage showed people digging through the rubble of the tower, looking for survivors.
Prime Minister Sushil Koirala, who was attending a summit in Jakarta, tried to rush back home but made it as far as Bangkok where his connecting flight to Kathmandu was canceled because the capital’s international airport was shut down.
While the extent of the damage and the scale of the disaster are yet to be ascertained, the quake will likely put a huge strain on the resources of this 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, is heavily reliant on tourism, principally trekking and Himalayan mountain climbing.
Nepal suffered its worst recorded earthquake in 1934, which measured 8.0 and all but destroyed the cities of Kathmandu, Bhaktapur and Patan.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi who tweeted about the earthquake shortly after it occurred, said: “We are working to reach out to those affected, both at home and in Nepal.” Deaths have been reported in Bihar, in eastern India and damage in areas of Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal. India’s federal ministry of external affairs has opened a 24-hour control room to monitor the aftermath of the earthquake. Residents of Gurgaon, a township of glitzy condos and malls have reported that some of their towers were “swaying.” Indian billionaire Ajay Piramal’s wife Swati posted on Facebook that she felt the ripples even in Mumbai.
Prasanta Patnaik