The recent earthquake of magnitude 7.9 on the Richter scale in Nepal and parts of India has claimed lives of over 900 people by far, in Nepal alone. The quake caused damage to life and property in Bangladesh, Tibet, India and the Mount Everest region as well. The death toll is expected to rise even further.
In Nepal, over 1700 people have been injured and 539 deaths have been reported in the Kathmandu valley alone. A large number of historical buildings have been destroyed due to the massive earthquake. Communication and travel have also suffered a setback.
Aftershocks continued to cause panic. People in Nepal are bedding out in the open now with the fear of more tremors in the region. Local residents have gathered in open areas and grounds and will spend the night outside at least tonight.
Reports from remote areas do not come easily, which may add more numbers to the total death count. Also, it gets slightly difficult for the rescue operations to reach these remote areas delaying the rescue mission. Many people are feared to be buried under the collapsed buildings, which may increase the death toll even further.
At least 34 people have been reported dead across North India and the toll may rise further. In Bihar, 25 people were killed and 33 have been injured. CM Nitish Kumar said that further damage was being assessed. In West Bengal, 3 people were killed and 69 people, including 43 children were injured. Siliguri was the worst affected city in the state of West Bengal.
16 people are feared to be dead in Uttar Pradesh, including 2 deaths in Gorakhpur, 3 in Barabanki, 3 in Sant Nagar, 2 in Kanpur and 1 each in Mirzapur, Badaun, Unnao, Pratapgarh, Bahraich and Sharavasti. Strong tremors were also felt in Sikkim, Delhi-NCR, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Rajasthan and Jharkhand. However, no casualties have been reported from the aforementioned areas.
Foothills of Nepal and Bihar have been experiencing inclement weather conditions for the last 2 days. On April 21, a storm had hit parts of Bihar causing damage to life and property. For the next 2 days, the affected areas will observe inclement weather conditions, which may hamper the rescue operations. Even today, a rescue helicopter from India could not land in Nepal and had to return to India due to bad weather.
Usually, rescue operations take a back seat at night due to visibility limitations. Also, the mountains and the foothills of the affected areas are susceptible to weather activity and even a small trigger can cause rain and thunderstorms in the region. During this season, the temperature remains fairly high and the cyclonic circulation keeps pushing the moist winds over Bihar and other affected areas causing rain in the region.
Image Credit (nbcnews.com)
