Quake relief: An uphill task

The earthquake in Nepal violently shook the earth, and, along with it, the economy and the society crippling the whole country. This earthquake of magnitude 7.9, occurred on a thrust fault. It was a shallow earthquake as its hypocentre was at a depth of about 15 km. The devastation was more profound because of this shallowness as the thin sediment under Kathmandu helped in amplification of the motion.

More than three dozen aftershocks ranging from magnitude 4.5 or more occurred after the main shock. One aftershock of magnitude 6.6 also happened. Aftershocks of magnitude 6 or more are more damaging as they rub salt into open wound. All structures having even minor cracks are repeatedly shaken and grounded. Aftershocks finish the unfinished job of the main shock.

Since long, seismologists have been claiming that this area of Nepal and India will face massive earthquakes. Their prediction is based on plate tectonics. Near the location of this earthquake, the India plate is converging with Eurasia plate at a rate of 45 mm/year towards north-northeast. This push is causing the rise of Himalayan range and occasional shaking in the form of earthquakes.

According to the United States Geological Survey, this earthquake was caused by a sudden push or release of built-up stress along the major fault line where the India plate is slowly diving underneath the Eurasian plate which carry much of Europe and Asia. Kathmandu, which is situated on a block of crust about 120 km wide and 60 km long, reportedly shifted 3 m to the south in just 30 seconds during this earthquake.

At this major plate boundary, which runs almost parallel to modern Indo- Nepal international border, earthquakes have occurred since several thousand years. Even in the past century, four earthquakes of magnitude 6 or more have occurred within 250 km of the latest earthquake. In August 1988, a 6.9 magnitude earthquake, which occurred 240 km to the southeast of the latest quake, caused close to 1500 fatalities. A magnitude 8.1 in 1934 on Nepal-Bihar border occurred in a nearby location and caused severe damage to Kathmandu and killed more than 10,600.

Some analysts fear that the current death toll may cross 10,000 mark. The quake may have caused damage to hydroelectric power projects in Himalayas, many of which are close to the epicentre. Electricity supply has been badly hit. Erecting transmission lines and transformers may take months. Education infrastructure is crippled.

There are many buildings that have not collapsed completely. Varity of building material and traditional to modern building techniques have produced many complex collapse patterns in the earthquake. Some are tilted. Some have ground floor collapsed but other floors intact. Some have other buildings resting on them. The factors which have decided the fate of the buildings in this tremor are properties of building material, dynamic characteristic of building, load deflection characteristics, building configuration, opening size, rigidity distribution, ductility, foundation and construction quality. Nepali homeowners, having very low per capita income, invest very low on construction. Buildings are the biggest killers in this earthquake.

The period between March to June is the peak tourist season and most of the earning is done through tourism. This earthquake has hit just before peak tourist season. Tourism accounts for about 8 per cent of Nepal’s economy. More than a million people, or about 7 per cent of the workforce is dependent on it. Almost all hotel bookings, trekking, adventure tours and mountaineering expeditions are being cancelled post earthquake.

About two dozen mountaineers have died on the Mt Everest expedition route. The Everest climbing is a Rs 100 crore business. The temblor has halted the Everest climbing season and along with it, the whole mountaineering support economy stands spoiled.
The first two hours in a disaster are considered golden hours. If an immediate rescue operation is launched, almost 80 per cent of the victims can be saved. The massive scale of destruction, the geographical spread and crippled transport network in Nepal made it impossible to utilise these golden hours. The scale of disaster needed extensive external help.

India was first to respond and dispatched its National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) to Kathmandu. Teams of NDRF, Indian Army and Indian Air Force are working in Nepal. The Indian disaster management team is the largest foreign team. The NDRF is using many rescue dogs to locate victims in the rubble. These dogs are specially trained to sniff and locate human live victims from the debris of collapsed buildings. And they never fail. China, Germany, Japan, Pakistan, Poland, Sweden too are using such rescue dogs.
There are situations when a collapsed structure is so unsafe that it cannot bear even the weight of a human being. Sometimes, audiovisual search equipment, which are optics based, become useless because of low visibility, power failure or lack of opening.

Satellite imagery

Search and rescue work in Nepal is one of the most technology-driven disaster management operations in recent times. Satellite imagery is being used to determine the extent of damage and identify areas of damage in remote hilly regions. Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) are being extensively used. These UAVs are effective in locating live and dead victims in the debris where movement of rescuers is extremely unsafe and time consuming. Many advance cutting tools, sensors, fibre optic cameras, portable water purifiers, lightweight tents, first-aid tools, etc are being used.

Some international teams are feeling that they are underutilised. Initial confusion and underutilisation of foreign teams is a normal phenomenon in a country hit by a large disaster. It happens because the government officials who are responsible for coordinating or launching operations are themselves victims of disasters.

Rehabilitation of more than 10 lakh people will be a big challenge. Several lakhs of affected citizens have left Kathmandu. Many are migrating to India. Some are migrating to rural areas, which are already jolted. Large scale migration will pose problem of law and order, disaster relief and reconstruction.

Economically and socially weaker segments of the population are the most seriously affected. Relief and rehabilitation of vulnerable groups such as elderly persons, women, children, the differently-abled, women who are rendered destitute and orphaned children are a bigger challenge for Nepal. The differently-abled persons have lack of helping hand and are being exposed to higher risks. Thousands may lose their limbs and their rehabilitation is a challenge.

Krishna Devi Khadka, a 24-year-old female victim, was rescued after 128 hours by a joint team of Nepali army, police, and Israeli rescue team. This shows the resolve of rescue teams and high degree of survival instinct of victims. In spite of all gloom, disaster, threat of epidemic, anger, despair, collapsing medical infrastructure and failures, there are rays of hope in Nepal. The international cooperation is unprecedented. Several billions of dollars of reconstruction funds have been contributed by scores of countries and international organisations across the globe. This reconstruction will resurrect a stronger, safe, healthy and smart Nepal.  UN FLASH APPEAL

$415 million required in Nepal for life-saving
assistance and protection for next 3 months

 Of this, $128 million needed for food, $50 million for shelter and $63 million for sanitation
Over 80 lakh people affected in 39 of 75 districts. Over 20 lakh live in 11 most critically-hit districts

1.26 lakh are pregnant women, 21,500 of whom
will need obstetric care in the coming 3 months

28 lakh people displaced

More than 35 lakh people in need of food assistance

$22,227,824 of bilateral contributions from nine countries and private organisations so far
Source: UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs

EXTENT OF DESTRUCTION

Due to the mountainous geography, infrastructure damage, collapsed bridges and damaged roads, access to many of the affected areas is reported to be extremely limited — UN

Nepal government says 1,60,786 houses destroyed. 1,43,673 houses damaged

90 per cent of health facilities in rural areas damaged

US Geological Survey initially estimated economic losses at 9 to 50 per cent of Nepal’s GDP, with a best guess of 35 per cent.

It is too hard for now to tell the extent of the damage and the effect on Nepal's GDP — Hun Kim, ADB official

OPERATION MAITRI

 Over 100 tonnes of relief material disbursed by Army and Air Force Helicopters

16 NDRF teams in Nepal

Numerous sorties by C17 Globmaster, C130J Super Hercules, AN32, IL76, Cheetah and Dhruv ALH carrying relief material and evacuating victims

Around a dozen satellite phones for communication

Medical teams spread in Nepal setting up medical camps and even conducting surgeries