Aftershocks

Hey everyone,

We've been doing a lot of writing on personal stuff lately and issues that are close to home for Raven and I. Today I need to switch gears to talk about some issues that are a bit further away. Before I do, let me say I am not a scientist or expert. I am new the subject I am discussing and I encourage people to do their own research and digging - and of course, form their own conclusions.

But anyway, here goes... By now I think everyone knows that Nepal, India, and China were hit by a massive earthquake (actually a couple of earthquakes) on Saturday April 25th around noon, local time. The epicenter was about 80km northwest of Kathmandu, Nepal's capital city. It was a fairly shallow earthquake, meaning the activity was close to the earth's surface, rather than being deeper underground. Shallow earthquakes make for devastating above-ground consequences. The earthquake was also very powerful. It is being categorized as a 7.8 magnitude quake. That magnitude is the same as the famous San Francisco earthquake of 1906, which destroyed about 80 percent of the city. There was also a second, smaller earthquake in the same area and a large number of aftershocks than ranged in magnitude and duration.

But the actual human consequences are better quantified by the Mercalli intensity scale, which measures an earthquake's effect on people rather than the amount of energy it releases. The Mercalli scale is a roman numeral scale I through X. I, being an earthquake that is not felt at all and X, being total damage with visible waves on the earth's surface during the actual event and objects so displaced they are thrown into the air. Nepal's quake was rated an IX on Mercalli scale at its hardest hit areas*. What that means is that the worst affected areas of Nepal have been completely leveled, with not even the best built structures surviving the shock. Many small towns, like Barkobot (about an hour and a half drive from the capital under normal circumstances), have been almost completely destroyed. Overall 39 of Nepal's 75 districts have been impacted, with 8 million people living in those areas. That means more than a quarter of Nepal's population (including the entirety of the capital) has been affected. The death toll is still being determined as search and rescue continues, but the exact number may rise as high as 100,000.

So the scope of this disaster is huge and far reaching. This would be a difficult situation for any country to handle under the best of circumstances. But Nepal is not a wealthy country. It is actually one of the poorest in the world - ranking at 197th worldwide for GDP. Many of its citizens are unemployed and more than a quarter live below the poverty line. All before the earthquake hit. Even people living above the poverty line will be struggling in the aftermath to rebuild and go back to work.

In the meantime Nepal's government has to coordinate relief efforts while supplies trickle in from all over the world. With blocked streets making remote regions even more so and relief efforts in the capital and other big cities pulling much of the manpower and many resources, the smaller towns and villages are left to fend for themselves in everything from food and shelter to search and rescue efforts. There have even been reports of thieves sneaking into badly hit areas at night and stealing what few possessions people have left since everything is out in the open now. The same town I mentioned earlier, Barkobot, has seen no relief workers or supplies from the central government and the situation is much the same in other small towns in the area.

The UN and Nepalese government are working together to get the supplies that are needed as quickly as possible, but without sacrificing quality. The monsoon season is coming soon and it is doubtful that everyone will be returned home by then. High quality tents that can withstand monsoon rains are hard to come by. Once the supplies are gathered, foreign aid will face another roadblock on its way to the people that desperately need those supplies - the Kathmandu airport. It is small. It is has only one runway and a limited amount of space past that for unloading of supplies. With so many planes headed to Nepal with supplies, many are finding there is no place to land for several hours. Some are turning back, supplies undelivered.


The worst of the disaster is gone, but the relief effort is just beginning. If you can donate anything, think about doing so. Even a few dollars can help, especially if everyone is doing it. It is times like these that should remind us what a global community is capable of doing when bent on one purpose. I hope to see news soon about Nepal's recovery.


*Because the Mercalli scale measures property damage and observed consequences the rating will be different in different areas based on distance from the event's epicenter.