Nepal earthquake one year anniversary

2015 devastation

On April 25, 2015, a massive earthquake hit Nepal.

A strong earthquake initially reported as anything from 7.5 to 7.9 struck Nepal 06:11:25.80 UTC today, April 25. Tremors were felts in parts of India, in the city of Delhi and in Malaysia and Bangladesh.

According to the US Geological Survey the quake struck an area in central Nepal between the capital Kathmandu and the city of Pokhara; its power was quickly adjusted to 7.9.

All too soon the extent of the devastation became clear.

As we reported at the time "Early reports of two deaths were quickly forgotten as the death toll started to climb. By noon Saturday UK time Russia Today was reporting at least 400 dead, a couple of hours later the death toll was estimated as at least 785 and hours later 1,300. Wednesday the death toll is now more than 5,000 and the huge human tragedy continues to unfold. 5,238 people were confirmed dead as of Wednesday with another 10,348 injured. Officials in Nepal believe the death toll may ultimately pass 10,000. Scenes from Nepal show devastation, a word which is perhaps overused and hardly seems able to describe what is happening."

Our report continued "The landmark Dharahara tower in Kathmandu, a popular tourist attraction, is now rubble. The Daily Telegraph showed an image of the dust covered head and shoulders of a man trapped in the debris of a fallen building Saturday as rescuers tried to free him.

While some are still being pulled out alive from the rubble of buildings it is now mainly a recovery operation. The number of dead are piling up and late Tuesday some were laid outside of a morgue for identification; but this was also as there is nowhere to store the dead awaiting burial.

At least 8,000 people died.

In 1934 Kathmandu was practically destroyed in an earthquake. The fact that such an event is not unknown in the region is no comfort to those displaced. The last significant earthquake in the area in 2011 killed at least five people but the 2015 earthquake will enter record books for its power and death toll.

Wednesday one British death in Nepal is confirmed; the man had dual nationality and was not resident in the UK. There are unconfirmed reports that another Briton was killed at Everest base-camp."

A couple of weeks after the main event a "Second major quake rocks Nepal". More than 100 people are killed and thousands more injured.

But as the one year anniversary of the massive earthquake passes people in the region have grown tired of waiting for normality to return.

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2016 many still live in temporary 'homes'

Monday BBC News reports:

"A year after the earthquake and Nepal is still a country of tarpaulins, tents and tin-roofed shacks.

I had imagined rebuilding would have begun, but it is as if the country has been frozen in time.
The streets have been cleared of rubble and the most obviously unstable structures have been brought down, but that is where the so-called "reconstruction effort" stopped.

Virtually none of the 800,000 buildings it is reckoned the quake destroyed have been rebuilt.

The lack of progress is most stark in the countryside. Whole villages are still shattered and broken."

You can read the full BBC report here-it is rather grim

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