THE NEPAL EARTHQUAKE OF APRIL 25,2015

Part 3: Second day Happenings

Walter Hays, Global Alliance for Walter Hays, Global Alliance for Disaster Reduction, Vienna, Disaster Reduction, Vienna,

Virginia, USA Virginia, USA 

SATURDAY, APRIL 25, 2015

• A massive block of the Earth’s crust, roughly 125 km (75 miles) long and 61 km (37 miles) wide, lurched 3 m (10 feet) to the south Saturday over the course of 30 seconds. Riding atop this block of the crust was the capital of Nepal — Kathmandu — and millions of Nepalese.

SUNDAY

CAPITAL DEVASTATED; AFTERSHOCKS CONTINUE; AT LEAST 2,500 PEOPLE

DEAD; AT LEAST 6,400 INJURED; THOUSANDS NEEDING SHELTER, FOOD, AND WATER; AVALANCHES; “S AND R” OPERATIONS ENERGIZED AND INTER-NATIONAL AID PLEDGED, BUT BOTH HINDERED BY A M6.7 AFTERSHOCK

USA, India, Sri Lanka. China, Russia, Pakistan and European Union countries are among those who have

pledged money and assistance. 

SUNDAY

• Nepal’s capital has become a tent city, as thousands of displaced residents stayed overnight in their dark gardens or out on the rubble-littered streets, afraid to go back inside because of aftershocks that exacerbated existing damage, triggered new avalanches on Mount Everest, and hindered search and rescue operations and all aspects of life.

Day 2 PHOTOSCREDIT: ASSOCIATED

PRESS

These pictures are used only for educational purposes with

zero financial benefit

DAMAGE, RUBBLE, AND NEEDS EVERYWHERE (Credit: AP)

UNBELIEVABLE DAMAGE (Credit: AP)

COLLAPSES (Credit: AP)

The older buildings, built of wood and brick, stood little

chance in the strong ground shaking.

Fifty per cent of the houses and schools were destroyed

“Some entire families were buried“

BHAKTAPUR: THOUSANDS NEEDING SHELTER, FOOD AND WATER (Credit: AP)

5,000 houses destroyed in Bhaktapur alone means that

at least 30,000 to 40,000 people are homeless

TEMPORARY SHELTER IN KATHMANDU (Credit: AP)

START OF A TENT CITY (Credit: AP)

DAMAGED ROADS HINDER LIFE (Credit: AP)

WEST BENGHAL,INDIA IMPACTED ALSO (Credit: AP)

AFTERSHOCKS KEEP PEOPLE OUTSIDE (Credit: AP)

DHARAHARA TOWER—100 DEAD (Credit: AP)

MEJU DEVAL TEMPLE (Credit: AP)

CREMATION BEGINS (Credit: AP)

AVALANCHE TRIGGERED ON MT EVEREST (Credit: AP)

TRAPPED ON MOUNT EVEREST

• Dozens of climbers remain trapped at 18,000 ft on the side of the mountain at two base camps that are located above the avalanche triggered by the main shock on Saturday and energized again by a large aftershock on Sunday.

RESCUE OPERATIONS ON MT EVEREST HINDERED

• Helicopter teams began evacuating critically injured climbers at base camp at Mount Everest Sunday morning, but the effort came to an abrupt halt when a large aftershock occurred around 1:00 PM and triggered more avalanches, elevating fear of of additional casualties on the world’s highest peak.

RESCUE HELICOPTER AT MT EVEREST BASE CAMP (Credit: AP)

TRAPPED ON MOUNT EVEREST

• Survivors at the International Mount Guide (IMG) camp at Everest Base Camp, Nepal are examined for injuries and prepared for helicopter evacuation.

RESCUE HELICOPTER AT MT EVEREST BASE CAMP (Credit: AP)

MILITARY RESCUE TEAMS (Credit: AP)

INDIA’S NATIONAL DISASTER RESPONSE TEAM (Credit: AP)

RELIEF SUPPLIES FROM INDIA WAITING TO GO (Credit: AP)

"From Moscow airfield" Ramenskoye "in Nepal flew two planes Emergencies Ministry IL-76, carrying a combined

detachment rescue officers, the group with the necessary equipment, machinery and equipment for

earthquake relief," - said the representative of the Ministry of Emergency Situations.

RELIEF HINDERED BY A LARGE AFTERSHOCK

• large aircraft headed to Kathmandu’s Tribhuvan International Airport carrying rescue personnel and aid workers — as well as some journalists — had to head back to New Delhi because it was not safe to land, forcing a further delay in S and R and relief efforts.

RELIEF SUPPLIES FROM SRI LANKA WAITING TO GO (Credit: AP)

TIBET IMPACTED ALSO (Credit: AP)

LESSON: THE KNOWLEDGE AND TIMING OF ANTICIPATORY ACTIONS IS VITAL

• The people who know: 1) what to expect (e.g., strong ground motion, damage, collapses, trapped survivors), 2) where and why they will happen, and 3) what they should (and should not) do to cope with them will survive.

LESSON: TIMELY, REALISTIC DISASTER SCENARIOS SAVE LIVES

• The people who have timely, realistic, advance information that facilitates reduction of vulnerabilities, and hence the risks associated with strong ground shaking, ground failure, and building collapses will survive.

LESSON: EMERGENCY RESPONSE SAVES LIVES

• The “Uncontrollable and Unthinkable” events will always hinder the timing of emergency response operations, especially the search and rescue operations that need to be complished within “the golden 48 hours.”

LESSON: EMERGENCY MEDICAL PREPAREDNESS SAVES LIVES

• The local community’s capacity for emergency health care (i,e., coping with damaged hospitals and medical facilities, lack of clean drinking water, food, and medicine, and high levels of morbidity and mortality) is vital for survival.

LESSON: EARTHQUAKE ENGINEERED BUILDINGS SAVE LIVES

• Buildings engineered to withstand the risks from an earthquake’s strong ground shaking and ground failure that cause damage, collapse, and loss of function, is vital for protecting occupants and users from death and injury.

LESSON: THE INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY ALWAYS PROVIDES AID

• The International Community provides millions to billions of dollars in relief to help “pick up the pieces, ” but this strategy is not enough by itself to ensure earthquake disaster resilience.

FACTMOST OF THE 200 + NATIONS

NEED EARTHQUAKE DISASTER RESILIENCE POLICIES THAT ARE BASED ON LESSONS LEARNED

FROM PAST EARTHQUAKE DISASTER LABORATORIES

YOUR YOUR

COMMUNITYCOMMUNITY

YOUR YOUR

COMMUNITYCOMMUNITYDATA BASES DATA BASES AND INFORMATIONAND INFORMATIONDATA BASES DATA BASES AND INFORMATIONAND INFORMATION

HAZARDS: GROUND SHAKING GROUND FAILURE SURFACE FAULTING TECTONIC DEFORMATION TSUNAMI RUN UP AFTERSHOCKS

•MONITORING•HAZARD MAPS•INVENTORY•VULNERABILITY•LOCATION

RISK

ACCEPTABLE RISK

UNACCEPTABLE RISK

BOOKS OF KNOWLEDGE BOOKS OF KNOWLEDGE

•PREPAREDNESS•PROTECTION•EM RESPONSE•RECOSTRUCTION AND RECOVERY

EARTHQUAKE DISASTER EARTHQUAKE DISASTER RESILIENCERESILIENCE

PILLARS OF EARTHQUAKE DISASTER RESILIENCE

Preparedness

Protection: Adoption and Implementation of a Modern Earthquake Engineering Building Code

and Lifeline Standards

Prevention: Land Use Planning and Base Isolation

PILLARS OF EARTHQUAKE DISASTER RESILIENCE (continued)

Monitoring

Realistic Earthquake Disaster Scenarios

Timely Emergency Response (including search and Rescue and Emergency Medical Services)

Cost-Effective Recovery and Reconstruction

THE CHALLENGE:

CHANGING EXISTING POLICIES:

CREATE, ADJUST, AND REALIGN PROGRAMS, PARTNERS AND PEOPLE UNTIL YOU HAVE CREATED THE KINDS OF TURNING POINTS NEEDED FOR MOVING TOWARDS EARTHQUAKE DISASTER RESILIENCE

AN UNDER-UTILIZED GLOBAL STRATEGY

To Create Turning Points for Earthquake Disaster Resilience

USING EDUCATIONAL SURGES CONTAINING THE PAST AND PRESENT LESSONS TO FOSTER

AND ACCELERATE POLICY CHANGES

MOVING TOWARDS THE MUST-HAPPEN GLOBAL STRATEGY

To Achieve Earthquake Disaster Resilience

INTEGRATION OF SCIENTIFIC AND TECHNICAL SOLUTIONS WITH POLITICAL

SOLUTIONS IN EVERY NATION FOR REALISTIC POLICIES ON PREPAREDNESS,

PROTECTION, DISASTER SCENARIOS, EMERGENCY RESPONSE,

RECONSTRUCTION, AND RECOVERY