Over 1,500 killed as 7.9 magnitude quake rocks Nepal
Over 1,500 people, including two Indians were killed and thousands were injured when a massive earthquake, measuring 7.9 on the Richter scale and lasting about 20 frightening seconds, with several strong aftershocks caused widespread destruction in Nepal. India too was affected as the tremors were felt across India, right from Srinagar to Kochi, and Jaipur to Guwahati.
In Nepal, buildings were flattened, roads cracked, telephone connectivity snapped and hospitals grappled with a large number of injured who were extricated from the rubble after the country was hit by the tremblor at 11.41 am India time. The epicentre of the quake was Nepal’s lamjung district, some 75 km north-west of Capital Kathmandu. Over 20 aftershocks were also felt.
The worst tremblor in 80 years destroyed over 1,000 buildings including historical structures like the iconic Dharahara tower and renowned Durbar Square in Kathmandu. An emergency meeting of the Nepal Cabinet was held in the evening. It termed the earthquake a national crisis and sought international help. The emergency Cabinet meeting announced 29 districts as crisis zones, the Home Ministry said.
The earthquake first struck around 11.56 am (local time) followed by aftershocks, Nepal Police spokesperson Kamal Singh Bam said. Nepal Police said more than 1,500 people were dead. However, according to Nepalese Home Ministry figures, 150 people lost their lives in Bhaktapur, 67 in lalitpur and 37 in Dhading district.
Besides, 20 people were killed in the country's eastern region, 33 in western region and rest in other parts of the Himalayan nation. Images showed that the quake had left the people of Nepal stunned. Besides capital Kathmandu and Besisahar in lamjung, the cities which were affected include Bharatpur, Pokhara and Kirtipur.
Several buildings, most of them old, in the densely-populated Kathmandu Valley collapsed, killing hundreds. At least 200 bodies have been retrieved from the debris of two-century old nine-storey landmark Dharhara tower in the centre of the Capital. Kathmandu's Darbar Square, a UNESCO World Heritage site, was completely damaged in the quake which was the worst to hit Nepal and surrounding regions after the earthquake of 8.4 magnitude which occurred along the Nepal-Bihar border in 1934. Video footages showed a number of buildings having caved in or developing huge cracks. Many of the city roads have suffered wide craters in the impact, affecting movement of vehicles and rescue operations.
Army, police and emergency workers were pressed into service for rescue of those trapped and rushing injured survivors to hospitals. Many of the injured could be seen suffering bleeding injuries covered in dust from the debris. Thousands of people were out in the open. Electricity has been cut-off and wi-fi services are down. Hospitals are packed with the injured and the Army is out in full force to help rescue people.
Kathmandu is a warren of tightly packed houses and narrow streets and these were filled with wailing people who panicked further as aftershocks rocked the area. A young woman, who clutched a blood soaked handkerchief to her forehead, cried and said that she was worried about her family. She said that she did not get the time to safely escape from her home which came crashing down. "I was terrified," she said at a hospital here.
Sadbhavana Party chief Rajendra Mahto said that it was difficult to estimate the loss so soon after the disaster but Kathmandu and its neighbourhood had suffered a lot of damage. "We will need support from neighbours, especially India, and international agencies...," said Mahto, who was a member of the first Constituent Assembly and a minister in several administrations.
Indian Embassy spokesperson Abhay Kumar said some walls have collapsed in the impact of the earthquake and the embassy has set up two helplines +977 98511 07021, +977 98511 35141. Fifty doctors have arrived from India to provide emergency services. Indian Ambassador Ranjit Rae said: "The old towns in the Kathmandu Valley have been affected in the earthquake".
The daughter of a local employee in the Indian embassy died and his wife suffered serious injuries when a house in the mission complex in Kathmandu collapsed during the quake. Hospitals were over-crowded with injured, with many of them being treated in the open outside the hospitals. Nepal's TV channels showed dozens of bodies lined up on ground after the earthquake. Television pictures also showed some of the people rescued from under the debris.
A Nepali Minister said there had been "massive damage" at the epicentre. "We need support from the various international agencies which are more knowledgeable and equipped to handle the kind of emergency we face now," Information Minister Minendra Rijal said. Initially measured at 7.5 magnitude, the quake was later revised to 7.9, with a depth of 15 kilometres. National radio warned people to stay outdoors and keep calm as more aftershocks were feared. The Tribhuvan International Airport has been closed. The Tribhuvan International Airport in Kathmandu was indefinitely shut on Saturday, resulting in the cancellation of all the eight subsequent return flights from India bound for the capital city.
The airport, according to aviation officials in Delhi, was opened in the evening, but only for non-commercial and relief operations. Some airlines like SpiceJet said they had been asked by Indian authorities to keep an aircraft ready to lift supplies from here and bring back stranded passengers. Soon after the quake struck, an IndiGo flight for Nepal, which had left at 11.30 am from New Delhi, had to be recalled and the departures of two others were suspended, official here said. The flight of Nepalese carrier Buddha Air, bound for Varanasi, was among the eight flights that were called off. An air force spokesperson said that the Kathmandu airport runway was intact and aircraft could land there. All civilian flights have been cancelled.