Death toll rises above 1,800 as International aid groups rush to Nepal

The death toll climbed and aftershocks continued a day after a powerful earthquake struck the Nepal region, triggering an avalanche on Mount Everest and setting off an urgent aid response. Early indications suggest the figure of almost 1,900 people killed in four countries is likely to rise substantially in the coming days. The magnitude-7.8 quake was the worst to hit Nepal in eight decades and caused damage and fatalities in neighboring countries. In addition to more than 1,800 people killed in Nepal, at least 51 were killed in India, 17 in Tibet and two in Bangladesh. Two Chinese citizens died at the Nepal-China border.

We do not yet know the scope of the damage, but this could be one of the deadliest and most devastating earthquakes since the 1934 tremor which devastated Nepal and Bihar.

Jagan Chapagain, Asia/Pacific director of the International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC)

Nepal’s long history of seismic events is related to the movement of tectonic plates beneath the Himalayan mountain range – “one of the world’s most worrisome hot zones for earthquake risk,” The New York Times reported. In 2011, as global concern for disaster risk reduction grew, the Nepali government partnered with a group of international organizations to create the Nepal Risk Reduction Consortium (NRCC). In 2013, the UN conducted a review of the NRRC that found that, although “much more work needs to be done” to close structure and capacity gaps within the program, the model was effective, overall. Saturday’s earthquake in Nepal is putting the government’s preparedness efforts to the test.

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