Nepal “On War Footing”

The prime minister of Nepal is telling reporters that his country is “on war footing” as they work to recover victims of the weekend earthquake and aftershocks.

Sushii Koirala told Reuters was “doing all it can for rescue and relief” in a “difficult hour.”  He said that he was making requests to every nation around the globe for help in rescuing citizens trapped in rural areas.

Koirala said that many of the requests from rural areas are having to be denied because they do not have the heavy equipment necessary to reach the victims.  The lack of available resources likely means an increase in the death toll.

The death toll from the quake has officially passed 5,000 and over 10,000 have been confirmed to have suffered injuries.

Nepal’s home ministry reports at leave 500,000 people have been displaced by the quake.  However, the United Nations puts the estimates significantly higher.

“Eight million people in 39 districts have been affected, of which over two million people live in the 11 severely affected districts,” said the most recent report from the UN Office of the Resident Co-ordinator in Nepal.

Relief workers in Gortha, which was located next to the epicenter, say that 90% of the town has been leveled.  Most residents do not have access to clean water or food.

Aftershocks are continuing to hit the region causing minor landslides that are hampering relief efforts.  The government has declared three days of mourning for the dead.

Nepal Death Toll Over 4,000

The death toll in the massive Nepal earthquake and aftershock has passed the 4,000 mark and local officials say it’s likely to continue a fast rise over the next few days.

Almost every member of the Nepalese military has been dispatched for search and rescue operations with focus on villages that have been inaccessible due to debris and damage.

Officials have now confirmed at least 7,000 people have been injured as a result of the quakes.  The hospitals are full and tent surgical theaters and treatment tents have been set up in the parking areas and open fields near the hospitals.

The Nepalese government has sent out an emergency call for “tents, dry goods, blankets, mattresses and 80 different medicines”.

The United States announced Monday an additional $9 million in relief supplies for the rescue effort.  China, India and Pakistan have sent emergency response teams to the region.  International aid agencies say that Great Britain, Australia and New Zealand have also contributed to the rescue efforts.

The United Nations World Food Program said they are preparing a “large, massive operation” for the region.

A spokesman for World Vision released a somber statement to the press.  Matt Darvas said that some villages that were on mountainsides could be completely buried by rock falls.  Some of the villages that are wiped out had up to 1,000 residents.

6.7 Magnitude Aftershock Rattles Nepal; Over 2,500 Dead

In an eerie confirmation of reports from the National Earthquake Information Center that there was a 1 in 3 chance of a massive aftershock in Nepal following a 7.9 magnitude earthquake Saturday, the region was struck by a 6.7 magnitude aftershock Sunday.

The U.S. Geological Survey said the quake struck only six miles deep strengthening the damaging impact of the quake.

“The aftershocks keep coming … so people don’t know what to expect,” said Sanjay Karki, Nepal country head for global aid agency Mercy Corps. “All the open spaces in Kathmandu are packed with people who are camping outdoors. When the aftershocks come you cannot imagine the fear. You can hear women and children crying.”

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Officials said that at least 2,500 people have been confirmed dead as of Sunday night but the death toll is likely to rise significantly over the next few days when more rescuers reach the region to examine collapsed structures and areas buried in landslides.

Officials say that over 700 deaths have been confirmed in the capital of Kathmandu alone.

Residents of the city say that the majority of collapsed buildings were older structures made of brick.  Modern buildings toward the business area of the city did not collapse leading officials to confirm the death toll was lower than it could have been at this point because those buildings stayed up.

International relief group World Vision said that many villages outside the capital are on mountains and they were not prepared for this massive quake and aftershock.

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Villages near the epicenter “are literally perched on the sides of large mountain faces and are made from simple stone and rock construction. Many of these villages are only accessible by 4WD and then foot, with some villages hours and even entire days’ walks away from main roads at the best of times,” the group’s local staff member, Matt Darvas, said in a statement to the Associated Press.

Residents of the area who had returned to their homes are now back in the streets following the massive aftershock.  Makeshift tent cities have been created in open spaces such as school playgrounds, courtyards and even the traffic islands in streets shut down because of damage.

Hospitals have been overwhelmed with injuries.

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“Both private and government hospitals have run out of space and are treating patients outside, in the open,” Nepal’s envoy to India, Deep Kumar Upadhyay, told the AP.

Pakistan confirmed they are sending a 30-bed temporary hospital to the capital along with doctors and surgeons.   They are also sending at least 2,000 ready to eat meals and drinking water.

Disaster experts Sunday admitted they had been in Kathmandu last week investigating ways to better prepare the region for a massive earthquake similar to the 1934 quake that leveled the city. 

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“It was sort of a nightmare waiting to happen,” said seismologist James Jackson, head of the earth sciences department at the University of Cambridge in England. “Physically and geologically what happened is exactly what we thought would happen.”

“I was walking through that very area where that earthquake was and I thought at the very time that the area was heading for trouble,” said Jackson, lead scientist for Earthquakes Without Frontiers, a group that tries to make Asia more able to bounce back from these disasters and was having the meeting.

Over 1,300 Dead in Massive Nepal Earthquake

The strongest earthquake to hit the Himalayan nation of Nepal in over 80 years has left massive devastation and over 1,300 people dead.

The quake, which struck just outside the nation’s capital of Kathmandu, was measured at 7.8 on the Richter scale by the U.S. Geological Survey.

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The death toll in Nepal is rising every hour.  Neighboring countries India and China have reported deaths from the massive quake.

The quake struck just before lunch time local time in a very heavily populated area of the region.  Residents began to run into the streets in panic as many buildings began to crumble.  Trees fell knocking out power lines and massive cracks appeared in the middle of roads and walking paths.

Residents spent the rest of the day in the streets because of aftershocks that continued to collapse buildings damaged by the initial quake.

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“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,” Vaidya, who runs an advertising agency, told The Associated Press. “I don’t remember anything like this before. Even my parents can’t remember anything this bad.”

“It’s cold and windy so we are all sitting in the car listening to the news on FM radio,” he said. “The experts are saying it’s still not safe to go back inside. No one can predict how big the next aftershock will be.”

The region lost many historical buildings and artifacts in the quake.

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The historic Dharahara tower was almost completely destroyed in the quake.  The formerly nine story tower, listed as a world historical site by the United Nations, is now reduced to a partially collapsed building less than two stories tall.  There were people on the 8th floor viewing tower when the quake struck and officials cannot say how many were killed in the building’s collapse.

The tower had been built by the nation’s first prime minister in 1832.

Durbar Square in Kathmandu’s Old City, also a U.N. recognized historical site, has been flattened.

The quake also triggered an avalanche on Mount Everest that killed at least 13.

Avalanches Stop Rescue Efforts For Storm Survivors

Avalanches have hampered rescue efforts after a massive storm that rocked Nepal.

Over 600 people have been rescued so far from a hiking trail on Annapurna, the world’s 10th highest mountain peak.  A massive snowstorm hit the mountain because of a cyclone that struck nearby India.

Rescue workers say today will be their last day to try and save anyone trapped because of avalanches and the storm.

“After this we can only hope that those who are missing will establish contact with us or their families,” said Kesa Paned of the Trekking Agencies’ Association of Nepal.  “We don’t think that any tourist is missing now. I am getting reports that some local porters and tour guides who were on the trek have not been traced so far.”

The confirmed death toll is at 40.  Officials said the dead tourist was an Israeli.

The death toll includes tourists from around the world including Canada, India, Israel, Japan and Poland.