Komal Priya Singh is a Field Correspondent for Know Disasters.
Nepal earthquake of 2015, also called Gorkha earthquake, was a severe earthquake that struck near the city of Kathmandu in central Nepal on April 25, 2015. About 9,000 people were killed, many thousands more were injured, and more than 600,000 structures in Kathmandu and other nearby towns were either damaged or destroyed. The tremours of this earthquake were felt throughout central and eastern Nepal, much of the Ganges River plain in northern India, and north-western Bangladesh, as well as in the southern parts of the Plateau of Tibet and western Bhutan.
The initial shock, which registered a magnitude of 7.8, struck shortly before noon local time (about 06:11 AM Greenwich Mean Time). Its epicenter was about 21 miles (34 km) east-southeast of Lamjung and 48 miles (77 km) northwest of Kathmandu, and its focus was 9.3 miles (about 15 km) underground. Two large aftershocks, magnitudes 6.6 and 6.7, shook the region within one day of the main quake, and several dozen smaller aftershocks occurred in the region during the succeeding days. On May 12, a magnitude-7.3 aftershock struck some 76 km (47 miles) east-northeast of Kathmandu, killing more than 100 people and injuring nearly 1,900.
The earthquake and its aftershocks resulted from thrust faulting (i.e., compression-driven fracturing) in the Indus-Yarlung suture zone, a thin east-west region spanning roughly the length of the Himalayan ranges. The earthquake relieved compressional pressure between the Eurasian tectonic plate and the Indian section of the Indo-Australian Plate, sub ducts (under thrusts) the Eurasian Plate. The Himalayan region is one of the most seismically active in the world, but large earthquakes have occurred there infrequently. Before the 2015 tremor, the most recent large earthquake (magnitude 6.0
or above) appeared in 1988. That magnitude-6.9 event resulted in the deaths of 1,500 people. A magnitude-8.0 earthquake in 1934, however, killed approximately 10,600 people. The deaths of approximately 9,000 people (which included fatalities in nearby parts of India, China, and Bangladesh) were confirmed, with nearly 16,800 injured and some 2.8 million people displaced by the earthquake. One United Nations (UN) report mentioned that more than eight million people (more than one-fourth of Nepal’s population) were affected by the event and its aftermath.
Immediately after the quake, the Nepalese government declared a state of emergency, and soon nearly the entire Nepalese army was assisting in rescue and recovery work. Nepal also called on the international community for aid. The UN quickly established the “Nepal Earthquake 2015 Flash Appeal” fund, which aimed to raise an estimated $415 million for Nepal’s earthquake relief. By some two weeks after the earthquake, more than $330 million had been either provided directly or pledged. India, China, and several other countries quickly responded by sending aid and rescue teams. The delivery of relief services to the people in need during the first few days after the earthquake occurred.However, it was complicated by the remoteness of many villages from the existing transportation network, congestion at Kathmandu’s international airport, and a shortage of heavy
trucks, helicopters, and other vehicles capable of transporting supplies. In addition, earthquake debris— along with “tent cities” erected in streets and other open areas by Kathmandu residents who feared returning to their homes—contributed to making many of the city’s streets virtually impassable,
hampering efforts by rescuers to reach people still trapped in the rubble. The debris was gradually cleared.
As the earth began to shake beneath him, 19-year-old IshworGhimire immediately sprung to action. Minutes later, he emerged as one of the country’s
many heroes: Out of the destroyed orphanage, he led 55 children to safety.
IshworGhirmire was having lunch at the Nepal Deprived Women and Children Upliftment Centre Orphanage in Kathmandu, shortly before the earthquake struck the capital. All the kids were in a panic situation, crying and screaming. Ghirmire asked everyone to get out of the building. He carried a number of the more minor orphans, who range in age from 4 to 16, to a flat vegetable patch outside. The earth was still shaking, but he was running here and there to rescue all the kids and take them to a safe place.
All the kids initially took shelter in a small church after the earthquake, but have since been relocated to a makeshift shelter with a plastic covering, which he helped build for them.
His own life story may be the only thing more remarkable than Ghimire’s heroism. An orphan himself, he came to the facility when he was four and assumed the role of the older brother to the younger orphans there. He attended Australia’s Pulteney Grammar School on a scholarship in 2013, and today, Ghimire mentors other young orphans while he prepares to attend university.He had returned to mentor children at the orphanage, and Pulteney Grammar School is now raising funds to rebuild the orphanage.
Ghimire’s story is remarkable but not isolated. The tragedy inspired a series of small miracles, including the story of a 4-month-old baby who was pulled from the rubble alive in Kathmandu after spending at least 22 hours buried. Pemba Tamang, who is 15 years old, was rescued after spending five days beneath the rubble.
