More than 4,000 people have been killed and many thousands injured in a devastating 7.8 magnitude earthquake in Nepal on Saturday, April 25. Rescuers desperately searched for survivors buried in the rubble as the death toll soared. The entire army of nearly 100,000 soldiers is aiding in the rescue efforts. At least 61 people were killed in India and at least 25 have been reported dead in Tibet.
Thousands of homes, temples and other buildings collapsed in some of the oldest neighborhoods of the densely populated city of Katmandu and in the villages nestled in the surrounding mountains. Landslides blocked the trails leading to them hampering rescuers attempts to reach them. Some of them are only accessible by helicopter. In some villages, 70% of the homes have been destroyed. More than 100 powerful aftershocks, one as high as 6.7 magnitude continue to shake the nation.
Hospitals are overwhelmed and short on supplies to care for the injured. People are afraid to sleep in their homes for fear that the building will collapse on them. Power is out in many parts of the city, and workers have refused to work so they could tend to their family’s needs. Food shortages are arising.
The earthquake also triggered an avalanche on Mount Everest where at least 18 people from various nations came to climb Mt. Everest or other purposes. The avalanche killed a Google executive who was part of a team attempting to map the trek up to the base camp and an emergency room physician who was serving as the base camp doctor for a mountaineering expedition company. The avalanche destroyed the base camp where climbers were preparing to climb as it swept down the mountain.
Hundreds, perhaps thousands, trying to flee the city jammed the roads leaving the town.
“We have 90% of the army out there working on search and rescue,” army spokesman Jagdish Pokhrel told the AP. “We are focusing our efforts on that, on saving lives.”
Aid in the form of food and water, blankets, and other essentials is flowing in from many countries, but the needs outstrip supply. Airport congestion in Katmandu is also hampering delivery of supplies.
In the last decade there have been 12 of the deadliest earthquakes in history, including the earthquakes in Haiti in January of 2010, which killed 316,000, Indonesia in December of 2004 that killed 230,000, China in February of 2010 that killed 90,000, Pakistan in October of 2005 that killed 80,000, and Japan in March of 2011 that killed 18,000.
“And there shall be earthquakes in divers places, and there shall be famines and troubles: these are the beginnings of sorrows.” Mark 13:8
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