Nepal Earthquake
The April 25 earthquake in Nepal has caused mass devastation, killing and injuring thousands of people, and highlighting the country's vulnerability to disaster. Dinesh C Sharma reports.
Kathmandu, Nepal's picturesque capital located in the foothills of the Himalayas, is usually teeming with tourists and locals going about their daily lives. But, on April 25, it looked more like a war-ravaged city after a 7·8 magnitude earthquake struck causing widespread devastation.
The impact of the quake, which had its epicentre 77 km northwest of Kathmandu in the district of Lamjung, was felt across western and central Nepal and parts of north India . The disaster, which also triggered an avalanche on Mount Everest, burying parts of the base camp, has left more than 7400 people dead and more than 14 000 injured, with most of the casualties reported from Kathmandu region, according to data released by Nepal's National Emergency Operations Center on May 4. The casualty figure is expected to rise as rescue teams clear debris in outlying areas, which can only be reached by foot because road and communication infrastructure is severely damaged. In the north Indian states of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, about 80 people were killed.
Dharahara tower, Kathmandu: 27 October 1998 and 26 April 2015
Durbar Square, Kathmandu: February 2015
Durbar Square, Kathmandu: 27 April 2015
Rescue Operations
Strong buildings
Rescue workers need to be swift to assess where they are most likely to find survivors inside collapsed buildings. Stairwells or the spaces under large concrete beams can provide what rescue workers call 'voids', in which people may have survived.Video cameras
Video cameras placed on the end of flexible poles can be squeezed through gaps in the rubble to help locate survivors. Using this technique means time is saved as less rubble is shifted unnecessarily. Thermal imaging equipment can also be used to locate survivors as their body heat can warm the rubble around them.Listening for survivors
Specialist sound equipment can detect the faintest of noises to within a few metres. Silence on the site is needed while a member of the rescue team bangs three times and hopes to hear a response. Carbon dioxide detectors can be used to find survivors rendered unconscious. They work best in confined spaces where they detect the greater CO2 concentration in the air exhaled by those still breathing.Weak buildings
Many of the buildings in Nepal collapsed in the initial earthquake or the aftershock. Many older neighbourhoods in the capital, Kathmandu, were made up of poorly-constructed brick buildings and these were largely destroyed in the disaster. Fewer, modern structures collapsed.Local knowledge
Local people often know the best locations to begin the search for survivors. After speaking to them rescue workers can quickly select the most promising place to begin their work. Many local people have also joined in the search for survivors.Search and rescue
The co-ordinating agency, usually the UN, and the host country, have to take the difficult decision of when to stop looking for a few remaining trapped people and concentrate resources on looking after the thousands of other survivors. The average time for this switch is between five and seven days, but individuals have been known to survive as long as 13 days, if they have access to water.Rescue dogs
Dogs are extremely effective at using their sense of smell to pick up on signs of life that human rescuers cannot. They are also able to cover large areas quickly, speeding up the search and rescue process.Lifting equipment
Diggers and hydraulic jacks are among the heavy machinery that rescue workers employ to shift rubble. Large concrete slabs on the outside of buildings can be pulled aside by diggers, enabling rescuers to get a view of any people still trapped inside. Rescue workers are also taking chainsaws and other power tools to cut through wreckage.Shifting rubble
Before the heavy-lifting equipment arrives, rescuers use pick axes and shovels to dig through the rubble. Other tools used by rescuers include chainsaws, disc-cutters and rebar cutters - which can be used to tackle the metal bars in reinforced concrete.
