Neil in Nepal: Nepal Earthquake

As folks know there was a major earthquake in Nepal, April 25 which registered 7.9 on the Richter. The epicenter was in Gorka, about 100 kms west from Kathmandu however, it shook the whole valley through to Everest Base Camp. Apparently Kathmandu rose 1 meter in elevation! and Mt. Everest shrunk about 1cm. The last major earthquake was in 1934, and geologists were predicting another major shake up anytime. Some even said in March 2015! The Indian plate is subducting (pushing under) under the Eurasian plate which has been forming the Himalayas for eons.

There were many injuries and deaths in the Kathmandu valley and it seems the newer buildings withstood the shocks and aftershocks fairly well. Homes that did not collapse were cracked or damaged in some way. The old cultural buildings took on the most damage. So it seems Kathmandu was NOT reduced to a pile of rubble. Some cracked roads, damaged buildings (mostly made of brick) and unfortunately injured people overwhelming the medical system for a week.

The real devastation was in the rural areas! Many villages for 100km west and about 50km east of Kathmandu were demolished. The rural areas are where the bulk of Nepal's population live in stacked stone houses that are held together by gravity, not so much from anything like mortar, rebar, etc. That is why when the ground shook, so many houses simply fell apart causing all kinds of injuries, deaths and damage to property.

The Nepali people WILL recover! They are already rebuilding, repairing and recovering with what they have left. Many have no money to buy better materials and will simply use or reuse what they have. Currently their needs in villages such as Ghorka, Nalang, Sindhupalchok - Lamjung, Dhading and Langtang districts.

My beloved village of Langtang was almost totally obliterated by a rock, snow and ice avalanche that wiped out 50+ lodges and homes, and 400+ villagers. Such a tragedy there. My friend Jangbu, who just built the new Tibet Guest House (in which we have stayed with 2 trekking groups), we have found was up in a higher village of Kyanjin Gompa and is safe. His wife and children were in Kathmandu at the time and are safe. I lost some dear friends in this and I understand there are about 30 orphaned children as a result. See my photo from November 2014, and the day after the earthquake and landslide!

What is left of Langtang village...