Strong earthquake topples buildings in Nepal, leaving hundreds of people dead or injured
Published: 14:41 April 25, 2015
Gulf News Report
Kathmandu: The death toll in a 7.9-magnitude earthquake that shook Nepal on Saturday rose to more than 400, police said.
At least 30 people died in neighbouring countries where the quake was felt including 20 in India.
The powerful earthquake hit near Nepal's capital of Kathmandu, collapsing houses, centuries-old temples and cutting open roads in the worst tremor in the Himalayan nation in over 80 years. Nepali police put the death toll at 449. The number is expected to rise as rescuers were expected to reach more areas where structures have collapsed.
"We have received reports that there is a big loss of property and life in Nepal," Krishna Prasad Dhakal, the deputy chief of mission at Nepal's Embassy in New Delhi, told AFP.
The 19th-century Dharara Tower was among several structures that collapsed, with several bodies seen at the site of the disaster, witnesses and television footage showed. Around a dozen bodies were taken away from the ruins, according to an AFP photographer at the scene.
Television footage showed that large numbers of offices and homes had collapsed in Kathmandu while roads had been split in two by the force of the impact. Dozens of people with injuries were being brought to the main hospital in central Kathmandu.
Panicked residents rushed into the streets as the tremor erupted around midday, with the impact felt hundreds of miles away in big swathes of northern India and even in Bangladesh. Families were see racing outside their homes.
"The walls of houses have collapsed around me onto the road. All the families are outside in their yards huddled together. The tremors are still going on," an AFP reporter said in Kathmandu.
Another resident recounted scenes of panic and mayhem.
"Everything started shaking. Everything fell down. The walls around the main road have collapsed. The national stadiums gates have collapsed," Kathmandu resident Anupa Shrestha said.
There were reports of avalanches in the Mount Everest region.
Casualties reported
One person was reportedly killed when an old building collapsed in the premises of the Indian consulate.
A girl died after a statue fell on her in a park in Kathmandu, a witness said, while another died in India when her house collapsed.
In Nepal's Pokhara area, police spokesman Kamal Singh Ban told the media that they have received information about the death of 10 people in the area.
The quake struck 81 kilometres northwest of Kathmandu before noon on Saturday, with walls crumbling and families racing outside of their homes in Nepal.
"The walls of houses have collapsed around me onto the road. All the families are outside in their yards huddled together. The tremors are still going on," an AFP reporter said in Kathmandu.
Several buildings collapsed in the centre of the capital, including centuries-old temples, said resident Prachanda Sual.
He said he saw people running through the streets in panic. Ambulance sirens blared and government helicopters hovered overhead.
National radio warned people to stay outdoors because more aftershocks are feared. It is also asking people to maintain calm.
Old Kathmandu city is a warren of tightly packed, narrow lanes with poorly constructed homes piled on top of each other.
Nepal's Information Minister Minendra Rijal told India's NDTV station that there are reports of damage in and around Kathmandu but no immediate word on casualties.
He said rescue teams were on the scene.
The epicenter was 80 kilometres northwest of Kathmandu, he said. The Kathmandu Valley is densely populated with nearly 2.5 million, with the quality of buildings often poor.
An Associated Press reporter in Kathmandu said a wall in his compound collapsed and there was damage to nearby buildings.
Initially measured at 7.5 magnitude, the quake was later adjusted to 7.9, with a depth of 15 kilometres, according to the United States Geological Survey.
Media reports said the quake tremors lasted between 30 seconds and two minutes and were felt across the across the border in Pakistan and India, including in the capital New Delhi and in the cities of Guwahati, Kolkata, Jaipur, Lucknow and Patna.
In Delhi, people were seen frantically rushing out of high-rise buildings as soon as the tremors were felt.
"We are in the process of finding more information and are working to reach out to those affected, both at home and in Nepal," Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said in a tweet. The AFP building in Delhi was evacuated twice following the quake, a correspondent said.
The quake was also felt in neighbouring Pakistan.
http://gulfnews.com/news/asia/nepal/strong-earthquake-rocks-nepal-tremors-felt-in-india-1.1498337Mohammad Shahab, a resident from Lahore, Pakistan, said he was sitting in his office when the earthquake rocked the city near the border with India.
He said the tremors continued for a while but now the situation was normal.
