THE NEPAL EARTHQUAKE
OF APRIL 25,2015
Part 4: Third Day Happenings
Walter Hays, Global Alliance for
Disaster Reduction, Vienna,
Virginia, USA
MONDAY
NEPAL: SHORT ON SHELTER, FUEL, FOOD,
WATER, MEDICINES, POWER, TENTS,
BLANKETS, TARPS, SANITARY FACILITIES,
CASH, and WORKERS; - - -
MONDAY (continued)
AT LEAST 4,000 PEOPLE DEAD, 7,180
INJURED; “S AND R” CONTINUES AS NEW
INTERNATIONAL EXPERTS ARRIVE TO
ASSIST IN STRICKEN CITIES AND ON MT
EVEREST; ROADS AND TRAILS BLOCKED
BY LANDSLIDES; AFTERSHOCKS
CONTINUE.
MONDAY (continued): LIFE
ALMOST SHUT DOWN
• Schools remained closed, most
businesses were shuttered, banks were
closed and ATMs lacked electricity to
dispense cash.
• Long lines of motorcycles and cars
formed at the few gas stations that had
fuel.
MONDAY (continued): LIFE
ALMOST SHUT DOWN
• The entire Katmandu Valley is
suffering from drinking water
shortages due to power
outages and severe damage to
utility pipelines.
MONDAY (continued): LIFE
ALMOST SHUT DOWN
• Phone lines are down
throughout the city, cellphone
service is spotty and Internet
access is still limited.
MONDAY (continued): LIFE
ALMOST SHUT DOWN
• Rumors abound every where
that a bigger earthquake is on
the way, creating additional
concern.
MONDAY (continued):STATUS OF
“S AND R” and RELIEF
• Forty-eight hours after the M7.8
earthquake, rescue and relief workers
have yet to reach numerous remote
mountain villages, where some reports
have suggested that 70% or more of the
homes have been reduced to heaps of
rubble and survivors need all the
basics.
RECAP OF SATURDAY AND
SUNDAY
SATURDAY, APRIL 25, 2015
• A massive block of the Earth’s crust,
roughly 125 km (75 miles) long and 61
km (37 miles) wide, lurched 3 m
(10 feet) to the south Saturday over the
course of 30 seconds. Riding atop this
block of the crust was the capital of
Nepal — Kathmandu — and millions of
Nepalese.
SUNDAY
CAPITAL DEVASTATED; AFTERSHOCKS
CONTINUE; AT LEAST 2,500 PEOPLE
DEAD; AT LEAST 6,400 INJURED;
THOUSANDS NEEDING SHELTER, FOOD,
AND WATER; AVALANCHES; “S AND R”
OPERATIONS ENERGIZED AND INTERNATIONAL AID PLEDGED, BUT BOTH
HINDERED BY A M6.7 AFTERSHOCK
USA, India, Sri Lanka.
China, Pakistan and
European Union countries
are among those who have
pledged money and
assistance.
SUNDAY
• Nepal’s capital has become a tent city,
as thousands of displaced residents
stayed overnight in their dark gardens
or out on the rubble-littered streets,
afraid to go back inside because of
aftershocks that exacerbated existing
damage, triggered new avalanches on
Mount Everest, and hindered search and
rescue operations and all aspects of life.
Day 3 PHOTOS
CREDIT: ASSOCIATED
PRESS
These pictures are used only
for educational purposes with
zero financial benefit
TENS OF THOUSANDS SLEEPING
OUTSIDES (Credit: AP)
TENS OF THOUSANDS SLEEPING
OUTSIDES (Credit: AP)
SLEEPING OUTSIDE AGAIN
• Tens of thousands of families slept
outdoors for a second night, fearful of
aftershocks that have not ceased.
Camped in parks, open squares and a
golf course, they cuddled children or
pets against chilly Himalayan nighttime
temperatures.
SLEEPING OUTSIDE AGAIN
• They woke to the sound of dogs
yelping and jackhammers.
SOUNDS ON MONDAY
MORNING
• As the dawn light crawled across
toppled building sites, volunteers and
rescue workers carefully shifted broken
concrete slabs and crumbled bricks
mixed together with humble household
items: pots and pans; a purple
notebook decorated with butterflies; a
framed poster of a bodybuilder; so
many shoes.
NEPAL’S MILITARY RESCUE
TEAMS AT WORK (Credit: AP)
NEPAL’S MILITARY RESCUE
TEAMS AT WORK (Credit: AP)
Nearing exhaustion, nearly
the entire 100,000-member
Nepalese soldier army is
involved in search and
rescue operations.
"There have been nearly 100
earthquakes and aftershocks,
which is making rescue work
difficult; even the rescuers are
scared because of them,"
The work is slow also because
many workers — water tanker
drivers, electricity company
employees and laborers
needed to clear debris— have
gone to their families and are
staying to help them.
HINDERED BY DEBRIS
(Credit: AP)
FAIRFAX COUNTY’S (USA)
SEARCH AND RESCUE
TEAM ARRIVED ON
SUNDAY NIGHT WITH 50
TONS OF SUPPLIES
Many roads and trails have
been blocked by landslides,
and the airport has been
overwhelmed or closed;
hindering travel, work, and
arrival of international workers
and relief supplies.
A RESCUE FROM MT EVEREST
BASE CAMP (Credit: AP)
A RESCUE (Credit: AP)
MEDICAL HELP NEEDED
• As people are pulled from the collapsed
buildings, even more help is needed:
orthopedic (doctors), nerve specialists,
anaesthetists, surgeons and
paramedics.
• "We are appealing to foreign
governments to send these kinds of
specialists and smart teams."
RELIEF SUPPLIES FROM INDIA
HAD TO RETURN (Credit: AP)
RELIEF FROM INDIA
• After failing to land on Sunday because
of closure after the M6.7 aftershock,
INDIA plans to resend 4 plane loads of
urgently needed supplies on Monday..
LESSON: THE KNOWLEDGE AND TIMING
OF ANTICIPATORY ACTIONS IS VITAL
• The people who know: 1) what to
expect (e.g., strong ground motion,
damage, collapses, trapped
survivors), 2) where and why they
will happen, and 3) what they
should (and should not) do to cope
with them will survive.
LESSON: TIMELY, REALISTIC
DISASTER SCENARIOS SAVE LIVES
• The people who have timely,
realistic, advance information that
facilitates reduction of
vulnerabilities, and hence the risks
associated with strong ground
shaking, ground failure, and
building collapses will survive.
LESSON: EMERGENCY RESPONSE
SAVES LIVES
• The “Uncontrollable and
Unthinkable” events will always
hinder the timing of emergency
response operations, especially the
search and rescue operations that
need to be complished within “the
golden 48 hours.”
LESSON: EMERGENCY MEDICAL
PREPAREDNESS SAVES LIVES
• The local community’s capacity for
emergency health care (i,e., coping
with damaged hospitals and medical
facilities, lack of clean drinking
water, food, and medicine, and
high levels of morbidity and
mortality) is vital for survival.
LESSON: EARTHQUAKE ENGINEERED
BUILDINGS SAVE LIVES
• Buildings engineered to withstand
the risks from an earthquake’s
strong ground shaking and ground
failure that cause damage, collapse,
and loss of function, is vital for
protecting occupants and users
from death and injury.
LESSON: THE INTERNATIONAL
COMMUNITY ALWAYS PROVIDES AID
• The International Community
provides millions to billions of
dollars in relief to help “pick up the
pieces, ” but this strategy is not
enough by itself to ensure
earthquake disaster resilience.
FACT
MOST OF THE 200 + NATIONS
NEED EARTHQUAKE DISASTER
RESILIENCE POLICIES THAT ARE
BASED ON LESSONS LEARNED
FROM PAST EARTHQUAKE
DISASTER LABORATORIES
•MONITORING
•HAZARD MAPS
•INVENTORY
•VULNERABILITY
•LOCATION
DATA BASES
AND INFORMATION
ACCEPTABLE RISK
RISK
UNACCEPTABLE RISK
YOUR
BOOKS OF
KNOWLEDGE
COMMUNITY
EARTHQUAKE DISASTER
RESILIENCE
HAZARDS:
GROUND SHAKING
GROUND FAILURE
SURFACE FAULTING
TECTONIC DEFORMATION
TSUNAMI RUN UP
AFTERSHOCKS
•PREPAREDNESS
•PROTECTION
•EM RESPONSE
•RECOSTRUCTION AND
RECOVERY
PILLARS OF EARTHQUAKE DISASTER
RESILIENCE
Preparedness
Protection: Adoption and Implementation of a
Modern Earthquake Engineering Building Code
and Lifeline Standards
Prevention: Land Use Planning and Base
Isolation
PILLARS OF EARTHQUAKE DISASTER
RESILIENCE (continued)
Monitoring
Realistic Earthquake Disaster Scenarios
Timely Emergency Response (including search
and Rescue and Emergency Medical Services)
Cost-Effective Recovery and Reconstruction
THE CHALLENGE:
CHANGING EXISTING POLICIES:
CREATE, ADJUST, AND REALIGN
PROGRAMS, PARTNERS AND PEOPLE UNTIL
YOU HAVE CREATED THE KINDS OF TURNING
POINTS NEEDED FOR MOVING TOWARDS
EARTHQUAKE DISASTER RESILIENCE
AN UNDER-UTILIZED GLOBAL
STRATEGY
To Create Turning Points for
Earthquake Disaster Resilience
 USING EDUCATIONAL SURGES CONTAINING
THE PAST AND PRESENT LESSONS TO FOSTER
AND ACCELERATE POLICY CHANGES
MOVING TOWARDS THE MUSTHAPPEN GLOBAL STRATEGY
To Achieve Earthquake Disaster
Resilience
INTEGRATION OF SCIENTIFIC AND
TECHNICAL SOLUTIONS WITH POLITICAL
SOLUTIONS IN EVERY NATION FOR
REALISTIC POLICIES ON PREPAREDNESS,
PROTECTION, DISASTER SCENARIOS,
EMERGENCY RESPONSE,
RECONSTRUCTION, AND RECOVERY