earthquake in NEPAL

Map of the earthquake and some of its

The Dharahara tower

After the earthquake

Before the earthquake

aftershocks

The earthquake occurred on 25 April 2015 at 11:56 a.m. NST (06:11:26 UTC) at a depth of approximately 15 km (9.3 mi) (which is considered shallow and therefore more damaging than quakes that originate deeper in the ground),^[25] with its epicentre approximately 34 km (21 mi) east-southeast of Lamjung, Nepal, lasting approximately twenty seconds.^[26] The earthquake was initially reported as 7.5 M_w by the United States Geological Survey (USGS) before it was quickly upgraded to 7.9 M_w and finally downgraded to 7.8 M_w. The China Earthquake Networks Center (CENC) reported the earthquake's magnitude to be 8.1 M_s. The India Meteorological Department (IMD) said two powerful quakes were registered in Nepal at 06:11 UTC and 06:45 UTC. The first quake measured 7.9 M_w and its epicenter was identified at a distance of 80 km to the northwest of Kathmandu, the capital of Nepal. Bharatpur was the nearest major city to the main earthquake, 53 km (33 mi) from the epicenter. The second earthquake was somewhat less powerful at 6.6 M_w. It occurred 65 km (40 mi) east of Kathmandu and its seismic focus lay at a depth of 10 km (6.2 mi) below the earth's surface. Over thirty-five aftershocks of magnitude 4.5 M_w or greater occurred in the day following the initial earthquake, including the one of magnitude 6.6 M_w.^[27]
According to the USGS, the temblor was caused by a sudden thrust, or release of built-up stress, along the major fault line where the Indian Plate, carrying India, is slowly diving underneath the Eurasian Plate, carrying much of Europe and Asia.^[25] Kathmandu, situated on a block of crust approximately 120 km (74 miles) wide and 60 km (37 miles) long, reportedly shifted 3 m (10 ft) to the south in just 30 seconds.^[28]
The risk of a large earthquake was well known beforehand. In 2013, in an interview with seismologist Vinod Kumar Gaur, The Hindu quoted him as saying, "Calculations show that there is sufficient accumulated energy [in the Main Frontal Thrust], now to produce an 8 magnitude earthquake. I cannot say when. It may not happen tomorrow, but it could possibly happen sometime this century, or wait longer to produce a much larger one."^[29] According to Brian Tucker, founder of a nonprofit organisation devoted to reducing casualties from natural disasters, some government officials had expressed confidence that such an earthquake would not occur again. Tucker recounted a conversation he had had with a government official in the 1990s who said, "We don't have to worry about earthquakes anymore, because we already had an earthquake"; the previous earthquake to which he referred occurred in 1934.^[30]

12 May 2015 earthquake

Main article: May 2015 Nepal earthquake

A second major earthquake occurred on 12 May, 2015 at 12:35 NST with a moment magnitude (M_w) of 7.3M_w 18 km (11 mi) southeast of Kodari. The epicenter was near the Chinese border between the capital of Kathmandu and Mt. Everest. It struck at the depth of 18.5 km (11.5 miles). This earthquake occurred along the same fault as the original magnitude 7.8 earthquake of April 25th but further to the east.^[52] As such, it is considered to be an aftershock of the April 25 quake.^[52] Tremors were also felt in northern parts of India including Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal and other North-Indian States.^[53][54][55]
At least 65 died in Nepal as a result of the aftershock and about 2,000 were injured. Seventeen others died in India and one in China.^[24]

Casualties

Nepal

The earthquake killed more than 8000 in Nepal^[81] and injured more than twice as many, as of 8 May 2015,^[56] Nepal's Prime Minister, Sushil Koirala, has said^[10] that the number could reach 10,000.^[82] The rural death toll may have been lower than it could have been as villagers were outdoors working when the quake hit.^[83]
The Himalayan Times reported that as many as 20,000 foreign nationals may have been visiting Nepal at the time of the earthquake, although reports of foreign deaths were relatively low.^[84] Hundreds of people are still considered missing and more than 450,000 are displaced.^[57]

India

A total of 78 deaths were reported in India - 58 in Bihar, 16 in Uttar Pradesh, 3 in West Bengal and 1 in Rajasthan.^[58]

China

25 dead and 4 missing, all from Tibet.^[59]

Bangladesh

4 dead.^[60]

Casualties by country

Country	Deaths	Injuries	Ref.
Nepal	> 8,151	> 17,866	[56][57]
India	78	560	[58]
China	26	383	[59]
Bangladesh	4	200	[60]
Total	> 8,259	> 19,009

Foreign casualties in Nepal

Country	Deaths	Ref.
India	40	[61]
France	10	[62]
Spain	7	[63]
China	4	[64]
Germany	4	[65][66]
Italy	4	[67]
United States	4	[68]
Canada	2	[69]
Russia	2	[70]
Australia  India	1	[71][72]
Estonia	1	[73]
Hong Kong  United Kingdom	1	[74][75]
Israel	1	[76]
Japan	1	[77]
Malaysia	1	[78]
New Zealand	1	[79]
United Kingdom	1	[80]
Total	85

Casualties

International aid

UNICEF appealed for donations, as close to 1.7 million children had been driven out into the open, and were in desperate need of drinking water, psychological counsel, temporary shelters, sanitation and protection from disease outbreak. It distributed water, tents, hygiene kits, water purification tablets and buckets.^[130]
India was the first to respond within hours, being Nepal's immediate neighbour,^[131] with Operation Maitri which provided rescue and relief by its armed forces. It also evacuated its own and other countries' stranded nationals.
On 26 April 2015, international aid agencies and governments mobilized rescue workers and aid for the earthquake. They faced challenges in both getting assistance to Nepal and ferrying people to remote areas as the country had few helicopters.^[132][133] Relief efforts were also hampered by Nepalese government insistance on routing aid through the Prime Minister's Disaster Relief Fund and its National Emergency Operation Center. After concerns were raised, it was clarified that "Non-profits" or NGOs already in the country could continue receiving aid directly and bypass the official fund. ^[132][134] Aid mismatch and supply of "leftovers" by donors,^[135] aid diversion in Nepal,^[136] mistrust over control of the distribution of funds and supplies,^{[137][138][139]} congestion and customs delays at Kathmandu's airport and border check posts were also reported.^[140][141] On May 3, 2015, restrictions were placed on heavy aircraft flying in aid supplies after new cracks were noticed on the runway at the Tribhuvan airport (TIA), Nepal's only wide-body jet airport.^{[142][143][144]}
The list below gives a break-up of pledged donations, by each nation, along with aid in kind, delivered immediately.^[145]

Summary of international aid to Nepal for earthquake relief
(Details in the article Humanitarian response to the 2015 Nepal earthquake)

Aid agency / Country	Cash donation (US $)	Humanitarian aid and supplies	Other aid	Source
International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies	$535,664.55 emergency fund activated	Volunteers (first-aid, search-&-rescue)	Blood-bank supplies to areas in the capital	[121]
Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors Without Borders)		Rapid intervention surgical kit with 11-member team left Kathmandu for Ghorka (200 km north-west) (61 staff deployed)	Water and sanitation – makeshift camps – Tudikhel (Kathmandu), Bhaktapur (14 km east of Kathmandu), first-aid material to Bhaktapur hospital	[120][133]
Save the Children	$7.798 million from Cristiano Ronaldo			[146]
European Union	$3.3 million	Aid, first-response teams and civil-protection experts		[147]
Algeria	$1 million	70 relief workers, medicines, and other supplies		[148]
Australia	$15.86 million	• $3,568,500 to the United Nations relief effort, $793,000 to the World Health Organization, $793,000 to the Australian Red Cross, $396,500 to the RedR Australia relief organisation, $3.172 million for other Australian NGOs. • Two Boeing C-17 aircraft carrying 15 tons of Australian aid and two RAAF aero medical evacuation teams. • The Government of Tasmania donated $7,930 to Rotary Tasmania's Nepal Earthquake Appeal.	• 2 humanitarian experts and a crisis-response team initially. • 70 defence personnel, immigration and other federal government officials to distribute aid and help with evacuation efforts.	[149][150][151][152]
Austria	$835,000		Austrian Red Cross search-&-rescue staff	[153]
Azerbaijan		1 ton of medical supplies, tents, blankets and water (Ministry of Emergency Situations)		[154]
Bangladesh		• BAF Lockheed C-130B aircraft with 10 tonnes of relief materials – tents, dry food, water, blankets, etc. • Four cargo trucks carrying approximately 25 tonnes of essential relief materials for earthquake victims in Nepal left Dhaka. The cargoes will travel through Banglabandh-Fulbari-Panitanki-Kakarbhitta land route. The relief materials include 3000 cartons (12 tonne) of dry food and fruit juice donated by Pran, and 5000 pieces of blankets donated by Brac, according to a press release of the Embassy of Nepal in Bangladesh. • Bangladesh will provide at least one lakh metric tons of rice and other relief materials including drinking water to help the earthquake victims in Nepal.	A 34-member team (6 military medical teams and foreign ministry officials). Stranded Bangladeshis airlifted.	[155][156][157][158][159]
Belgium	$3,5 million		Search-&-rescue teams	[160]
Bhutan	$1 million		63 personnel medical team	[161][162][163][164] [165]
Brunei			8 man relief team (2 doctors, 4 paramedics from the Royal Brunei Armed Forces (RBAF) and Brunei’s Gurkha Reserve Unit (GRU)	[166]
Canada	$4.16 million; $832,000 to the Canadian Red Cross	A Boeing C-17 with supplies – blankets, jerry-cans, kitchen sets, hygiene kits, and tarps	150 Canadian troops; a Disaster Assistance Response Team – 30 experts; pledges by humanitarian organizations; immigration assistance	[167][168][169][170] [171]
China	$9.9 million	Tents, blankets, and generators; emergency response for citizens	China International Search and Rescue Team (CISAR) – 268 members, 26 search-&-rescue dogs	[172][173][174][175] [176][177][178]
Colombia	Fundraising by the Colombian Red Cross	Over 1,500 volunteers from national societies.	Evacuation of citizens and aid (when needed)	[179][180][181][182]
Czech Republic	$791,378	A Boeing 737 – blankets, medical supplies, water and food; and a special trauma team.	36 medical workers and 13 firefighters. Evacuated 54 Czechs and 48 EU citizens.	[183][184][185]
Denmark	$744,000		Aid (TBD)	[186]
Estonia	Fundraising		15 rescue workers and medics (could not land – airport congestion)	[187][188][189]
Finland	$3.35 million; fundraising by the Finnish Red Cross	Medical and logistical supplies	A Finnish Red Cross relief workers team	[190][191][192][193]
France		Equipment and supplies	Crisis centre at Foreign Ministry; a reinforcement team in New Delhi; 11 rescuers, (more help if needed)	[194][195]
Germany		A mobile medical centre	52 relief workers team – physicians, searchers, dog squads; the German Federal Agency for Technical Relief (THW)'s Rapid Deployment Unit Water and Sanitation Abroad (SEEWA)	[196][197][198]
Greece			Search-&-rescue teams	[160]
Hong Kong	$6.45 million	World Vision Hong Kong raised $1.29 million to provide victims with tents, tarpaulins, solar-powered lights, and other necessities.		[199][200][201]
India		Material aid in Operation Maitri: • 8 tons of baby food • Over 100 tons of medical supplies • 75,000 vials of insulin • Over 200 tons of water • 100,000 bottles of water every day from the Indian Railways • Hundreds of tons of food and dry rations • 43 tons of relief material • 10 tons of blankets • Several tons of stretchers, tents • A reverse osmosis (RO) plant • Oxygen regenerators & cylinders • 345 tons of relief material, dry food and essential medicines from the state governments of Bihar and Uttar Pradesh	Rescue aid: • 16 National Disaster Response Force teams, over 1,000 personnel, search-&-rescue dogs • Hundreds of retired Indian Gorkha soldiers of the Indian Army • Hundreds of Indian Army and Indian Air Force personnel • Military task forces headquartered in Kathmandu and Barpak • Relief sorties by Ilyushin Il-76, C-130J Hercules, C-17 Globemaster, Antonov An-32 aircraft • Civilian aircraft • Helicopters – Mi-17, Cheetah, HAL Dhruv ALH • Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) • 18 member medical team • 3 field hospitals • 2 mobile teams of specialist doctors • 41 member medical team from the state of Rajasthan • Indian Air Force rapid action medical team • 45 bed hospital at Lagankhel • Light vehicles • Earth moving equipment • 18 Indian Army Engineer Task Forces (Indian Army Corps of Engineers) • Indian Oil Corporation team • PowerGrid Corporation of India engineers • 36+ vehicles – ambulances and water tankers – from the Sashastra Seema Bal • 39 member Indian Army team deployed at the Everest Base Camp to search for, rescue and assist climbers Evacuation of over 20,000 Indian citizens and hundreds of foreign nationals by air and road	[202][203][204][205] [206][207][208][209][210] [211][212][213] [214][215][216][217][218]
Indonesia	$2 million	2 Boeing 737-400s belonging to the Indonesian Armed Forces and Garuda Indonesia, flew with 6 tons of relief supplies – blankets, body bags, food, water hospital and sleeping tents, medical equipment: and medicines	66 personnel of SAR and Medical team	[219][220]
Iran		An 80,000 pounds (36,000 kg) relief package (via India)		[221][222][223]
Ireland	$1.126 million			[224]
Israel		Three IAF Hercules and two El Al Boeing 747-400 jets carrying a joint IDF and MFA search-&-rescue team and 95 tons of equipment including a field hospital (with premature-babies ward), cutters, electronic sniffers, generators, and lighting equipment. The planes were also used for evacuation.	264 person search-&-rescue team, including physicians.	[225][226][227]
Italy	$334,000[citation needed]			[228]
Japan	$8.4 million	Emergency relief supplies worth US$210,000	70 experts – Foreign Ministry, the National Police Agency, and JICA, along with rescuers, search-&-rescue dog handlers, communication specialists, physicians, and field coordinators	[160][229][230]
Malaysia			20 doctors – Mercy Malaysia; 30-man rescue team – Special Malaysia Disaster Assistance and Rescue Team	[231][232]
Maldives		Other aid (TBA)		[233]
Mexico			Earthquake rescue brigade and engineers.	[196][234][235]
Monaco		Other aid (TBA)		[196]
Netherlands	$4.45 million by the government and $21,225,289.36 raised by GIRO 555 Action ('Netherlands helps Nepal')	5 tons of relief supplies	62-man and 8-dog team; several physicians, nurses, and engineers	[236][237]
New Zealand	$771,000 in humanitarian aid		45 urban search and rescue technicians, 2 aid workers and an engineer.	[238][239]
Norway	$17.3 million			[240]
Pakistan		Four Lockheed C-130 planes with a 30-bed hospital, 2,000 military meals, 600 blankets, 200 tents, and other assorted relief items	Military emergency personnel including army doctors, medical staff, and the combined ERRA-NDMA's special search and rescue teams with sniffer dogs	[241][242]
Philippines			Soldiers, Philippine Red Cross staff, the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority Humanitarian Assistance Team and volunteers	[243][244] [245]
Poland			81 firefighters of the State Fire Service, 12 search and rescue dogs, and 6 doctors of the Polish Center for International Aid	[246][247]
Qatar		2 aircraft with 60 tons of relief materials, such as food, medicines, power generators, and tents; 2 additional aircraft with 120 tons of relief materials, in addition to a field hospital provided by Qatari Red Crescent	Aid operations	[248]
Russia		Two Ilyushin Il-76 airplanes with 'a team of 90 rescuers and rescue equipment,' and 'a batch of humanitarian aid of food products and articles of daily necessity.'	50 highly skilled rescue workers	[249][250]
Singapore	$100,000		55 members of the Singapore Civil Defence Force; officers from Singapore's police forces, including the Gurkha Contingent; another relief team	.[160][251]
Slovakia	$33,000			[252]
Slovenia	$55,000			[253][254][255]
South Africa			A search and rescue team composed of members of the South African Police Service with police dogs to aid in the rescue operation.	[256]
South Korea	$1 million	Sindhupalchok area • 1000 tents • Food packages for 230 families (Rice 10kg, bean 1kg, salt 1kg, oil, Nepal noodle 1kg, 10 vitamin tablets and etc. per a package) • 2.4 tons of rice, 320 bottles of vegetable oil, salts for 740 villagers	42 search and rescue workers including 15 medics and two assistants. Two sniffer dogs.	[257][258][259][260]
Spain		30 tons of humanitarian aid, including more than 3,200 blankets, 1680 awnings and 500 kitchen sets, donated in part by Spanish Red Cross.	47 soldiers of the Military Emergencies Unit and seven agents of the Civil Guard, with 60 tons of material, in order to find Spanish citizens unlocated.	[261][262][263]
Sri Lanka		SLAF C-130 Hercules flight and Sri Lankan Airlines Airbus A330 flight with 17 tonnes of medicine, engineering, signal and ordnance equipment, supportive transport requirements, water bottles, health accessories, dry rations, and water purification tablets, etc.	Groups of specialist physicians, other medical staff, and medicine; 44 Sri Lanka Armed Forces personnel and 4 medical consultants; a team of 156 persons, including 11 airmen, 4 medical consultants, and 14 sailors; 97 service personnel: 72 Sri Lanka Army personnel, 14 Sri Lanka Navy personnel, 11 Sri Lanka Air Force personnel	[264][265]
Switzerland	$18.6 million (fundraising)	38 tonnes of relief supplies	Experts, including a physician, a building surveyor, and a water quality technician	[266][267][268]
Sweden	$1.5 million		60 search and rescue staff, along with dogs	[269]
Taiwan	$300,000		Nepal rejected Taiwan's offer to send search and rescue teams due to "China factor".	[270][271]
Thailand	$200,000 by government $302,000 by the king		Medics and rescue staff	[272][273][274][275]
Turkey		1,000 tents and 320 food packages.	Up to 96 search and rescue staff	[276]
United Arab Emirates	$1.36 million	Medical and food supplies, purchased from India	88 search and rescue staff	[160][277]
United Kingdom	$23.14 million, of which $7.713 million was donated by the government and $15.42 million was donated by the public	30 tonnes of humanitarian aid and 11 tonnes of equipment	A team of 60 search and rescue responders and medical experts deployed by the Department for International Development; engineers from the British Army's Brigade of Gurkhas	[278][279][280] [281]
United States	$10 million by government, the public donates separately through several agencies		A disaster response team from USAID; Urban Search and Rescue Virginia Task Force 1 from Fairfax County, Virginia was deployed to Nepal from the Dover Air Force Base; Los Angeles County's Urban Search and Rescue California Task Force 2; U.S. Army Green Beret soldiers; 100 Marines; two helicopters and four V-22 Osprey VTOL aircraft	[282][283][284][285] [286][287]
Vatican City	$100,000			[288]
Vietnam	$50,000 by government $30,000 by the Vietnam Red Cross		10 rescuers – Vietnam Red Cross	[289][290]