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" Major Earthquake in Nepal Leaves Hundreds Dead"

Don't want to little the situation as the death toll has hit about 1500, but its quite ironic that the most well off people are kiwis at Everest camp one supplied up to the max
 
One of my neighbors is there. I don't know her, people I know do. I haven't heard yet if she's OK. Apparently she returned in March for her third year there doing some kind of work.
 
I'm almost finished reading a bio about Charles Richter. He was often asked about predicting earthquakes. He was more concerned with the problem of badly built structures falling down.

Very sad event. If I prayed to something I'd do it a lot for thing like this.
 
Orphia Nay said:
What part of Nepal did you live in?
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I spent most of my time in the Far-Western Terai, but did spend one monsoon and a number of other odd weeks in Kathmandu.

We had one big quake while I was there; the epicenter was in India and I think it was a 6.8.
 
Fascinating research:
Nepal quake 'followed historic pattern'.

Only 2 weeks ago the research was presented that the location was due for a large quake following the transfer of energy on the fault from a quake 89 years ago further east on the fault. And there is more to come as this quake didn't release all the built up tension on the fault.
 
If I am reading correctly, Langtang Valley alone may have more than 2,000 dead:

Over 2,000 dead after Nepal’s huge earthquake—but the toll could get much, much higher

Nepalese Television (NTV) says Langtang Valley is completely destroyed with roughly two thousand people killed. #NepalQuake
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Here is a morbid question: Do any relief or military organizations have mobile crematoria? Most Nepali funerals are public, open air cremations. It uses a lot of wood. The ashes and remains are put in the Bagmati River (if in Kathmandu) or other local rivers.

If a family cannot afford enough wood to completely burn up the corpse, then incompletely burned remains get dumped in the river. With the number of dead they have now, a lot of incompletely burned remains could end up in local rivers. That could be a disease issue.
 
crescent said:
... Here is a morbid question: Do any relief or military organizations have mobile crematoria? Most Nepali funerals are public, open air cremations. It uses a lot of wood. The ashes and remains are put in the Bagmati River (if in Kathmandu) or other local rivers.

If a family cannot afford enough wood to completely burn up the corpse, then incompletely burned remains get dumped in the river. With the number of dead they have now, a lot of incompletely burned remains could end up in local rivers. That could be a disease issue.
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Gross but not likely a disease issue. It's a myth that mass casualties spread disease. If there is untreated sewage in that river anyway, the risks wouldn't change much.

Diseases that are likely to increase are things that spread in crowded conditions, of which there are plenty. I do wonder what they are doing for their toilets in those tent filled open areas.

The news media suggested cholera would spread if they didn't manage the bodies but the real risk isn't so much bodies laying around or in the river, it is lack of potable water and spread through crowded camps. Honestly, you'd think as often as this subject of mass casualties and cholera outbreaks came up, the media would know the facts by now, or at least ask or look it up.

Cholera is a big problem in Nepal and like the epidemic following the Haitian earthquake, a resurgence is highly likely. In the case of Haiti, relief workers brought it in. In Nepal, it is already there.

Understanding Cholera in Nepal
 
Hate to be a debbie downer, but why is the US only sending 1 Million Dollars? There was more cash in the pockets of the people at the Correspondents dinner last night.
 
An update from the neighbors:
Thank you for all your kind thoughts for my daughter [...]. She is going on two years in Nepal building a system of sustainable kitchen gardens through KISC's EQUIP program in Kathmandu, Nepal. She is working with about 4 different schools building a sustainable kitchen gardening program into their curriculum Two of the gardens are successfully producing and feeding the children at the schools they have been established at. One of them is in a village that was hard hit by the earthquake, so I am awaiting news. She is called to stay a third year and help train a lady who is going to take her place there in the program. From my understanding she is taking two ladies into her home that had their homes structurally damaged bye the Earthquake. No electricity and damaged infrastructure have hit the country hard. Many people hurt or killed beneath piles of ruble. It has effected and affected every one and everything ...it will take a loving hand from many to make their way back to a rebuilt community.
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Sounds like an interesting and likely worthwhile project.
 
crescent said:
If I am reading correctly, Langtang Valley alone may have more than 2,000 dead:

Over 2,000 dead after Nepal’s huge earthquake—but the toll could get much, much higher
Click to expand...


I went trekking in the Langtang area a couple of years ago. About a 9 hour bus ride to travel approximately 100km. It was a very narrow one lane mountain road in and out, barely passable in good times. I remember thinking how it wouldn't take much in the way of an avalanche to take it out and how isolated they'd be if something happened. In fact, on our trip a truck ahead of us broke down which stopped traffic in both directions for nearly an hour until they were able to move it to an area of the road wide enough for the other vehicles to pass.

Video link to the road (the actual mountain road section starts around 1:45):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K53UeYgXmbI
 
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