Nepal quake: fear and terror in atmosphere

NZME.

13 May, 2015 07:11 AM4 mins to read

Nepalese patients are carried out of a Kathmandu hospital building as a 7.3 magnitude earthquake hits the country. Photo / Getty Images

The atmosphere in Kathmandu is one of fear and terror following the second major earthquake to hit Nepal, a Unicef official in the city says.

The 7.3 magnitude earthquake yesterday hit 82km east of Kathmandu, near the town of Namche Bazaar at the base of Mount Everest. Forty-eight people are confirmed dead and 1261 injured in Kathmandu and other areas, Nepal's home ministry has said.

Rose Foley, a Unicef official based in Kathmandu, said the people of Nepal were once again back on the streets.

"Shops had opened up and people were lying like sardines along the floors of all different kinds of shops," she said.

"People have pitched up tarpaulins and once again people are back in shelters.

"The huge thing that you see and hear from children and their families is just how afraid they are - it is absolutely enormous the emotional toll they have had to go through since the earthquake and the subsequent aftershocks."

Ms Foley said the devastated country continued to be rocked throughout the night by tremors.

"Last night there were two aftershocks during the night and even for those who had managed to get to sleep, everyone was woken up and they were very afraid. People are anxious and upset.

"You hear a massive jolt and you think of the people who are sitting out in the open. The fear is huge."

Mr Foley described the moment the quake hit as one of confusion and terror.

"For a split second, you don't really know what is happening. The alarm went off and the whole building started shaking from side to side and everyone just jumped under the table.

"You could see everyone just moving and trying to protect themselves from falling debris and as soon as we could, we all just went outside. People were just pouring outside trying to get to safety."

She said she met a woman outside who told her how "her heart was absolutely racing and she was so afraid for her child".

Further information on the state of outlying villages was expected to trickle in, Ms Foley said. There are 45 New Zealanders currently registered on Safe Travel as being in Nepal.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade said it was in the process of contacting New Zealanders there but were facing difficulties with communication lines.

"Communications remain intermittent in Nepal, and operating conditions are difficult. It may be some time before all New Zealanders can be contacted."

New Zealand Nepal Society president Uddhav Adhikary said the damage in Kathmandu has been relatively minimal, but remote villages had suffered.

"We are not sure what is happening in the rural areas but we will know maybe by tomorrow. Some of the places are very hard to get to."

Mr Adhikary said the second earthquake had been a highly traumatic experience for the people of Nepal.

"People are frightened and traumatised. They were just getting back to normal life after two weeks and the shops were starting to open and everything was getting settled, but now that are more frightened."

The New Zealand Red Cross said a initial assessments indicated hundreds of homes had collapsed, many of which had already been damaged by the 7.8 magnitude earthquake that struck two weeks ago.

"Regions already struggling to cope with the effects of the earlier earthquake were hit hard."

The impending monsoon season in a few weeks was a major concern, Ms Foley said.

"We need to make sure that all children and their families have a very secure place to stay and that they also have sanitation and health supplies to cut the risk of disease which obviously goes up when the heavy rains are coming."