A beautiful nation shattered

A BEAUTIFUL NATIONSHATTERED

NEPAL 2015QUAKE

April 25, 2015 a Saturday and weekly holiday in the Himalayan nation,

dawned as another wonderful morning seeped in the picturesque landscape of

sylvan valleys on a backdrop of mighty Himalayan peaks and step-farmed

slopes where the adult members of households had begun work early in the

morning, leaving behind their children at home to play or rest.

In Kathmandu city people welcomed the weekly off from work and took it at

easy pace. Some catching up on personal work, shopping, meeting friends

while some organised religious services at their homes as veneration to Gods,

joined by relatives and extended families. The mood was generally exulting for

all and sundry.

Just before noon at 11:56 local time the earth shook vigorously giving little

scope if any, to people across the country and neighboring areas of India to

escape the wrath of nature, burying people alive under collapsed houses.

The horrific event that scientist had expected in the region for some years now,

had struck with all its might leaving central Nepal into heaps of rubble, and

devastating the heritage of the country that could never be replaced for its

historic glory. In the following pages I would try to present the scenario with

some pictures of yore as nostalgic memories of a lovely place that

mesmerized every visitor.

Geologically it was the clash of the telluric Titans – the Indian tectonic plate

crashing into the Eurasian plate under the Himalayas. The result was part of

India slid 10 feet under Nepal just 15 kilometers below the surface, to unleash

kinetic energy over ground that brought everything down … almost.

US scientist say the expected velocity was largely muted.

For big tectonic activity of 70 to 90 years hiatus would

normally force 33 to 50 feet ingress into one another.

In such a case it would have been a

terrifying catastrophe this time

around.

Yet the damage was profound and the aftermath left heart wrenching scenes

both in loss of human life, dwellings and heritage edifices.

The most visible landmark of Kathmandu – the Dharhara tower disappeared

in matter of seconds burying 200 visitors under it, and none survived.

Aerial view of the tower … then and now.

Over half of Heritage landmarks ruined

Basantapur Darbar square Kathmandu, the ancient seat of the Shah dynasty,

was rendered nonexistent . The erstwhile royal palace [white building in picture]

is irredeemably damaged and the ancient temples in the compound razed to

the ground, including “Kasthamandap” from which Kathmandu got its name.

Basantapur Darbar square Kathmandu then and now… same location shot!

Kashtamandap

Basantapur Darbar square Kathmandu then and now

The four ancient settlements of the valley – Kathmandu, Bhaktapur, Patan and Kirtipur showcased its heritage landmarks of predominantly Newari architecture of multi-tier pagoda edifices that for centuries served as social space for citizens who would spend long hours here.

Homes no more inhabitable

Somewhere here was the home where they grew up

Facing Singh Darbar – the Nepal Parliament, statuette of King Prithvi Narayan Shah the founder of Nepal state holds ground but surroundings

destroyed.

Bhaktapur the 12th Century heritage city in the valley. Its Darbar square was destroyed.

A quarter of the densely populated city was decimated and in another half buildings stood tilted dangerously ready to crash anytime.

So was Patan the third heritage city of the valley. Darbar square defaced.

If some people could be rescued alive, many hundreds lay dead and buried under the rubble

There were also 22 casualties among expedition groups at the base came of Mt. Everest buried under a sudden avalanche triggered by the earthquake.

Outside the valley, rest of Nepal was cut off with roads destroyed and all communication channels down. Thousands died in villages around Sindupulchak, Gokha and Pokhara area, close to the two subsequent quake epicenters. Rest who survived lay resigned to fate without succor for days.

In 1934 Nepal suffered a similar big hit with the magnitude of 8.2 Mw., killing over 8500 people. However since the epicenter lay away in south east of the capital city and the seismic activity occurring at a depth of around 60 km. below the surface, the impact and damage was lower than the current one. Here are some images of the time.

Half of Dharahara tower damaged

Patan Darbar square

Rank Name Date Location Fatalities Magnitude

1 Haiti January 2010 Haiti 316,000 7

2 Haiyuan December 1920 Ningxia–Gansu, China 273,400 7.8

3 Tangshan July 1976 Hebei, China 242,769 7.8

4 Indian Ocean December 2004 Indian Ocean, Sumatra, Indonesia

230,210 9.2

6 Ashgabat October 1948 Turkmenistan 110,000 7.3

7 Great Kantō September 1923

Kantō region, Japan 105,385 7.9

8 Kashmir October 2005 Muzaffarabad, Pakistan 100,000 7.6

9 Sichuan May 2008 China 69,197 7.9

Deadliest earthquakes over the last 100 years

Note: High-end estimates used. The Indian Ocean quake includes the resulting tsunami. If a range of magnitudes were listed, the median value was used. Data: governments, U.N., USAID.

I had visited Nepal since 1973 and lived there for the first three years of the new

millennium.

The personal connect with the country and the emotional attachment I have with

the people saddens me for the miseries the nice, simple and happy people

have to endure by the will of nature.

Families, near and dear ones now abruptly annihilated, those who survive will be

forced to lead a truncated existence. We can only empathize and condole their

misfortune.

This compilation is my humble effort to chronicle the distress of the nation and

its hapless people.

Postscript:

101 year old Funchu Tamang rescued alive from under rubble of his village home

at Nuwakot with minor injuries after 8 days.

By last count on May 4, over 7500 perished; estimated 14122 were physically

injured; over 11000 plus people in deep trauma. The death toll could exceed

10000 by current estimate.

138,182 houses across Nepal razed, of which 10394 are Govt. buildings;

122,694 houses are partially damaged, of which 13000 are Govt. buildings.

By UNSECO Nepal representative office estimate as many as half of the

country's significant historic sites "are totally destroyed”. And 80 percent of the

temples were significantly damaged.

Nepal will need over $200 million to repair and rebuild the cities of which the

government has pitched in with $ 20 million. Will depend on global aid for the rest.