On 25th April 2015, Nepal suffered a 7.8 earthquake destroying all on its way to Kathmandu; which also caused an avalanche at Mount Everest killing 18 climbers. The death toll has now risen to over 7,500 people with a further 14,500 are said to have been injured. The UN estimates that the earthquake has affected around 8 million people.
Nepal is a country straddling the Indian plate and the Asian plate. By subduction, the Indian plate is pushed under the Asian plate. In addition, the epicenter of the earthquake was 80 km from the capital. This violent earthquake also caused landslides and avalanches.
Countries such as India, China, Pakistan, Australia, Israel, Japan, the UK and the US, are sending economic and rescue aid to Nepal. India has sent military Aircraft and members of its National Disaster Response Force. The Chinese consulate in Nepal is operating as a temporary shelter for the Chinese tourists stranded in Nepal. China is also sending 20m Yuan in humanitarian. Israel has sent a 260-member team to Nepal along with 95 tons of humanitarian and medical supplies.
Everyday more news about the tragedy are reaching the western world, with many charities now calling for donations of money to be made. Other have stated that it will take a long time to rebuild cities such as Kathmandu, and especially rural areas, where many people are said to be in desperate need of aid, but there is an insufficient number of ways to reach them, unless via helicopter.
Due to many rural areas being unreachable for the moment, NGO’s have warned of a spike of trafficking could take place. Over 15,000 girls a year are trafficked every year from rural areas of Nepal and the earthquake could see the number rise. This has caused an increased effort of aid being sent to help the country and to stop illegal crimes such as prostitution taking place due to the disaster.
The survivors to this tragedy are now trying to rebuild the place as well as surviving day per day while waiting for humanitarian aid from the different NGO’s such as AmeriCares, CARE, Catholic Relief Services, Direct Relief, Red Cross, Mercy Corps, GlobalGiving, Save the Children or Seva Foundation, between many others.
People can give help through social network sites such as Facebook, where donations will go directly to International Medical Corps, which has emergency response teams in regions hardest hit by the earthquake. Also, Facebook will be matching every dollar donated through the site until they reach $2 million.
The UN OCHA (United Nations Office Of Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs) has stated that it will take nearly $415 million to help save lives and make a difference in Nepal, with over £38 million alone being raised in the UK, they are well on their way to reaching the target. UNICEF says it is preparing two cargo flights with a combined 120 tons of humanitarian supplies.
