evastation after a magnitude 7.8 earthquake hits Nepal. Aside from the human cost, cultural artifacts from antiquity are also damaged. Source:
CNN
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A massive earthquake registering 7.8 on the Richter scale hit Nepal on April 25th, leaving over 5,000 dead and potentially hundreds more trapped under rubble, according to current estimates. Towns at the epicenter of the quake have experienced a 90% loss of buildings and infrastructure in the Kathmandu district of Nepal alone. Highly dependent on tourism and agriculture for its economic development, Nepal will likely experience massive long- and short-term losses in the wake of this natural disaster.A shot of the Himalayas taken from the International Space Station.
Nepal is seated right on a fault line between the Indian and the Eurasian tectonic plates’ borders. The Himalayas, the most massive mountain chain in the world, are the result of these tectonic plates crashing and rubbing against each other, thrusting mountain peaks high into the atmosphere. Earthquakes come with the territory. Nepal alone has suffered 70 quakes in the last year, of which Saturday’s was the most devastating in 80 years.
A deadly combination of geographic and economic factors help explain this catastrophe. Unlike, say, the city of New York, which is able to support the weight of its massive skyscrapers due to high amounts of sturdy bedrock in the earth, the buildings and infrastructure of the Kathmandu valley are rooted in soft clay left behind by a 30,000 year old lake that used to dominate the region. Clay, unlike rock, shifts and swells with groundwater and temperature changes, making it an unstable place on which to build the foundation of a home. As important, Nepal simply doesn’t have the resources to build sound structures or to clear away the clay and build on sturdier ground.
Nepal’s socioeconomic conditions also help explain why the earthquake’s effects are and
will be particularly devastating. A historically agrarian culture,
one-fourth of Nepalese live below the poverty line. Though 80% of Nepal’s citizens have access to clean drinking water,
the World Health Organization reports that only 35% of Nepal’s citizens have access to proper sanitation. On top of that, there is a massive doctor shortage in Nepal– one doctor for every 4,761 people (compared to
2 doctors for every 1,000 in the United States). Evacuee’s camps are filling up every day, leaving newly homeless Nepalese cramped into tent cities with poor sanitation and limited resources. In addition to rescue missions, first-responders must now grapple with the rise of
cholera. Have a look at the situation unfolding in Nepal in the gallery below:
Read more at http://all-that-is-interesting.com/nepal-earthquake#w791VUMjblJrxl7R.99Nepal’s socioeconomic conditions also help explain why the earthquake’s effects are and will be particularly devastating. A historically agrarian culture, one-fourth of Nepalese live below the poverty line. Though 80% of Nepal’s citizens have access to clean drinking water, the World Health Organization reports that only 35% of Nepal’s citizens have access to proper sanitation. On top of that, there is a massive doctor shortage in Nepal– one doctor for every 4,761 people (compared to 2 doctors for every 1,000 in the United States). Evacuee’s camps are filling up every day, leaving newly homeless Nepalese cramped into tent cities with poor sanitation and limited resources. In addition to rescue missions, first-responders must now grapple with the rise of cholera. Have a look at the situation unfolding in Nepal in the gallery below:
Homes not suited for the violent 7.8 earthquake lie destroyed.
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Homes not suited for the violent 7.8 earthquake lie destroyed.An injured girl is carried by rescuers.
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An injured girl is carried by rescuers.An infant is rescued after nearly a day trapped in rubble.
A man struck down by falling debris during the Nepal earthquake.
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A man struck down by falling debris during the Nepal earthquake.
Two earthquake victims-- one dead, one clinging to life, are found amidst rubble in Nepal.
Volunteers helping to clear the debris from the Nepal earthquake.
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Volunteers helping to clear the debris from the Nepal earthquake.
Trying to free a man trapped in rubble.
A man seems to weep as he walks away from a damaged relic of Buddha.
More UNESCO heritage sites destroyed.
Searching for survivors in the ruins of a temple.
Aerial shot of a "tent city" for evacuees.
An impromptu phone-charging station in Nepal.
A camp for evacuees of the Nepal earthquake, set up on a golf course.
A map displaying the epicenter of the earthquake that struck Nepal on April 25th, 2015.
The world's tectonic plates. Nepal falls immediately on the boundary between two tectonic plates (Saturday's earthquake pictured in white).
A road split in two by Saturday's earthquake.
The Indian Air Force bringing supplies and aid to Nepal.
The Indian Air Force carries bags of food for disaster relief.
Destroyed relics in the royal square of Nepal, Bhaktar Durbar Square.
Several base camps on Mount Everest were hit by avalanches and tremors.
A child happily drinks juice in front of a destroyed home.
A tent city to host evacuees of the Nepalese earthquake.
Before and after the earthquake, the Dharahara tower in Kathmandu.
Before and after the earthquake, a ballfield in Kathmandu is now occupied by a "tent city".
The vast majority of the Nepalese army have been put on search-and-rescue duty. Britain and Norway have pledged $11.5 million USD in aid, and countries all over the world are offering support. India, Nepal’s neighbor, is doing a lot of the heavy lifting– the Indian Air Force is conducting massive rescue operations out of the affected areas, as well as sending water, food, and other essentials to Nepal. Indian MPs and politicians are offering to donate their month’s salary to the relief effort. It will be a slow process, but with the help of the international community, Nepal can rebuild.
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