A huge earthquake in Nepal registering 7.9 on the Richter scale hit Saturday morning and has killed more than 900 people. The quake caused immense devastation in the city of Kathmandu, including destroying several historic buildings, such as the UNESCO World Heritage temples at Basantapur Durbar Square and the Dharara tower, which are in the central part of the capital of Kathmandu. The shallow quake was centered approximately 50 miles from the capital.
The tremendous quake is the worst earthquake in Nepal in more than 80 years, and has caused avalanches to occur on Mt. Everest, collapsed ancient temples and city buildings, causing many to be homeless. A man on travel who was attempting to climb Mt. Everest reported that the earthquake sent him running for his camp to try to get to some sort of safety.
Travel in the area is restricted due to this massive quake, which happened at about noon Saturday, as reported by the US Geological Survey. Tourists on travel holidays in the area report seeing many people being pulled out of the rubble, as well as using their own vehicles to get the injured to medical help.
Aftershocks from Earthquake in Nepal Continues to Cause Damage
Even after the first huge earthquake in Nepal hit the area, only an hour later a magnitude-6.6 aftershock caused even more damage, with several smaller ones following over the next few hours.
The quake killed individuals in several other countries, including 20 in India, Tibet, Bangladesh, Bihar and at the Chinese border to Nepal. It was reported that the quakes were felt as far away as Azad Kashmire, Peshawar, Gilgit Baltistan and Lahore, but no casualties or damage was reported in those areas. The death and injury toll is expected to rise, as all of the information has yet to be gathered and evaluated.
India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi put out a tweet, saying that the government was working diligently to find more data and to get help to everyone hurt or otherwise affected by this huge earthquake in Nepal.
Pakistan Professes All Available Help to Earthquake Victims
Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif spoke about the earthquake in Nepal and expressed his astonishment and sorrow after reading the reports about this devastating quake, and professed his earnest sympathies to Nepal and India’s population, and to the governments on this horrible event that has caused death and destruction in their two countries and has offered help to those affected.
Nepal is considered as being one of the poorest countries in the world, and as such, much of its buildings were unable to hold up to this huge earthquake in Nepal. They are made of mostly brick, and now that is what is being seen in all the debris and litter in the affected areas.
Continued coverage of this devastating and deadly earthquake in Nepal will be reported as more information and data is available.
