On Tuesday, two major earthquakes hit the nation of Nepal killing at least 42 people, toppling buildings and causing landslides. The Nepal quakes were part of a chain reaction that was initiated by a 7.8 magnitude tremor that hit the remote nation on 25th of April. The prediction of quakes is not an exact science but the occurrence of the Nepal earthquake on Tuesday was not a surprise to experts. There have been about 100 aftershocks of smaller magnitudes; 3 upwards after the April tremor. In the first two hours after Tuesday’s first tremor, there were about six aftershocks. The quake itself was 7.3 on the Richter scale and hit the districts northeast of Katmandu the hardest as the flattened villages left hundreds of thousands homeless.
Meanwhile new landslides have blocked mountains roads in the Gorkha district which was one of the most affected during the April tremor. According to Norwegian Red Cross Secretary General Asne Havnelid, ‘People are terribly scared. Everyone ran out in the streets because they are afraid of being inside the houses.’ Clearly, the situation is very tense after the damage of the April earthquake. At the same time, the government does not have the appropriate resources to aid its citizens during this trying time and the subsequent quakes are just exacerbating things.
Information has been slow to reach the capital but experts and aid workers at the various scenes claim the death toll is expected to rise; taking into account, the previous quake resulted in the death of about 8000 people. The current estimates stands at the 42 dead and about 1117 injured. Reports are still coming in that rescuers were able to pull three people to safety in Katmandu while nine were rescued in the district of Dolkah. Nepal is vulnerable to earthquakes because of regular movement of the fault line which is situated along the Southern border, where the Indian and Eurasian tectonic plates interface. As the plates move against each other, the friction creates energy buildups and explosions on the surfaces for releases. As such, the developing country has appealed for billions of dollars in aid from the United Nations and medical experts to treat the wounded as well as air support to carry food and supplies to the homeless considering the untimely rain storms at this time.
