By Jeremy Reynalds, Senior Correspondent, ASSIST News Service (jeremyreynalds@gmail.com)
KATMANDU, NEPAL (ANS. APRIL 25, 2015)
A powerful earthquake shook Nepal on Saturday near its capital,
Katmandu, flattening sections of the city’s historic center and trapping
dozens of sightseers in a 200-foot watchtower that came crashing down
into a pile of bricks.
According to a story by Ellen Barry for the New York Times,
officials in Nepal initially put the preliminary death toll at 1,157,
nearly all of them in the valley around Katmandu. Other media are now
saying the death toll is now at about 1,400.
In an email obtained by the ASSIST News Service, Philip Ewert,
World Vision's operations director in Katmandu, said “Infrastructure is
down all over the city. Power is out with limited internet access.
Walls and water tanks are damaged. We are also getting reports that
people are trapped in temples and other public buildings as there was a
large festival here Saturday.”
The New York Times said it was an event that touched a vast portion
of the subcontinent. The quake set off avalanches around Mount Everest,
where several hikers were reported to have died. At least 34 deaths
occurred in northern India. Buildings swayed in Tibet and Bangladesh.
The earthquake, with an estimated magnitude of 7.8, struck shortly
before noon, and residents of Katmandu ran into the streets and other
open spaces as buildings fell, throwing up clouds of dust. Wide cracks
opened on paved streets and in the walls of city buildings. Motorcycles
tipped over on their sides and slid off the edge of a highway.
By mid afternoon the United States Geological Survey had counted 12 aftershocks, one of which measured a magnitude of 6.6.
World Vision said it is mobilizing staff and resources to
immediately assist communities right now. It has 200 staff already on
the ground, and they are ready to respond with temporary shelter, food,
hygiene kits, water, emergency health interventions, and more.
To help through World Vision, click here
Photo caption: A survivor being rescued after the devastating earthquake.
Jeremy Reynalds is Senior Correspondent for the ASSIST News
Service, a freelance writer and also the founder and CEO of Joy
Junction, New Mexico's largest emergency homeless shelter, http://www.joyjunction.org.
He has a master's degree in communication from the University of New
Mexico, and a Ph.D. in intercultural education from Biola University in
Los Angeles. His newest book is "From Destitute to Ph.D." Additional
details on "From Destitute to Ph.D." are available at http://www.myhomelessjourney.com. Reynalds lives in Albuquerque, New Mexico with his wife, Elma. For more information contact: Jeremy Reynalds at JeremyReynalds@comcast.net
** You may republish this and any of our stories with attribution to the ASSIST News Service (www.assistnews.net)
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