Deadly earthquake Nepal – At least 1,911 people killed

Barpak, about 1000 houses and very close to the epicenter –
government sources say almost completely destroyed 

Armand Vervaeck and James Daniell, earthquake-report.com , April 26, 2015:Sources who are referring to the Nepali Government are now speaking of 1832 fatalities in Nepal alone. This number is far from final as the search and rescue continues and as rural villages are not yet accounted for. 4700 are reported injured in Nepal alone.

Although earthquakes are common in the Himalaya because of what is shown on the map, massive earthquakes like the one of April 25 are rather seldom.

The Indian Plate travels approx. 45 mm/year and not 25 mm/year.

Mostly fragmented fatalities we get from with Nepal. Helicopters from the Nepal Army are now on their way to the epicenter area and more information is expected within a couple of hours. Everest avalanches and rockfall took the lives of 13 people. Some are still missing.

Another powerful M5.4 aftershock happened this morning. 

In the last 24 hours approx. 50 aftershocks of M4 or more did happen in the greater earthquake area.

The outlook for rural villages in the epicenter area looks very grim as most roads are swept away on many locations. Only a lot of helicopters may do the job but Nepal has only a few of them. 

Google confirms executive Danfr edinburg was killed on the Everest. He was hiking the mountain with 3 other Googlers who are safe.

Mobile companies BSNL, MTNL and Airtel are giving their customers local, free calls.

An woman photographer, Shiva Rajvanshi, was in the epicenter area and made the picture with her smartphone. A miracle she could send it as coverage was poor but seemingly still working. She also told in a separate message that : people are helpless, no food, houses are destroyed, many are hurt badly and some people died in front of us. Ground is still shaking every 15 to 30 minutes. This message was send many hours ago. Shiva was in the Barpak epicenter area.

HONG KONG, APR 25 – China has expressed its deep sorrow over the deadly earthquake that claimed hundreds of lives on Saturday. It has pledged all kinds of assistance to Nepal at this time of emergency. It is sending 65 trained personnel along with necessary kits in a special plane on Sunday. Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs informed such to Nepali mission in China .

ER considers China as by far the most skilled SAR teams in the Himalayan region. We hope more will be done than the current effort.

Rockfall and avalanches caused 10 fatalities in the Everest Base Camp valley and slopes (Nepali media). Professor Max Wyss, who specializes in theoretical prognoses of injuries and fatalities made a new calculation this evening.

It is currently raining heavily in the epicenter zone, making the misery for the people even worde. Aftershocks, though weaker, are still being felt.

How did it all happen ?

The April 25, 2015 M 7.8 Nepal earthquake occurred as the result of thrust faulting on or near the main frontal thrust between the subducting India plate and the overriding Eurasia plate to the north. At the location of this earthquake, approximately 80 km to the northwest of the Nepalese capital of Kathmandu, the India plate is converging with Eurasia at a rate of 45 mm/yr towards the north-northeast, driving the uplift of the Himalayan mountain range. The preliminary location, size and focal mechanism of the April 25 earthquake are consistent with its occurrence on the main subduction thrust interface between the India and Eurasia plates.

Although a major plate boundary with a history of large-to-great sized earthquakes, large earthquakes on the Himalayan thrust are rare in the documented historical era. Just four events of M6 or larger have occurred within 250 km of the April 25, 2015 earthquake over the past century. One, a M 6.9 earthquake in August 1988, 240 km to the southeast of the April 25 event, caused the fatalities.

The largest, an M 8.0 event known as the 1934 Nepal-Bihar earthquake, occurred in a similar location to the 1988 event. It severely damaged Kathmandu, and is thought to have caused around 10,600 fatalities.

After watching a number of overview videos ER can state that this was NOT the big Kathmandu earthquake everybody was talking about. The casualties may be numerous but the cityscape has only a limited number of buildings affected. Some older buildings collapsed as well as badly build newer buildings.

Outside temperatures in Nepal 12 °C and colder in higher areas. People were or in the open or in shelters due to fear of strong aftershocks. Many of you who traveled to Nepal before will feel sadness for this country as wel as for the image below. We are certain that the temple will be rebuild but it is an horrific view to see it like this.

According to Gorkha Police District Office-94 died so far in Gorkha.Rescue is going on but need more Manpower for Rescue.

Besides the Indians, also the Americans have stressed that they want to help – US Foreign Disaster Assistance: Our thoughts are with the people of Nepal, India, and Bangladesh as a magnitude 7.9 earthquake struck Nepal today, affecting more than 6.6 million people in the region & causing widespread damage. We’re preparing to deploy an assessment team & providing an initial $1 million in immediate humanitarian assistance.

More than 50 person lost their life in Gorkha.

People spent a chilly night outside their houses, for sure the safest place to stay for probably days to come. 

The Nepali government has declared the State of Emergency.

Nepal’s Lamjung, the epicentre of the quake, has reportedly flattened and only few buildings there are believed to be standing. (zeenews India) – 1 dead in West Bengal after wall collapsed.

Reports are telling us that damage and injuries are noted as far as Bangladesh and India. A Chinese tourist is reported dead at Pohara.