THE NEPAL EARTHQUAKE OF APRIL 25,2015

Part 4: Third Day Happenings

Walter Hays, Global Alliance for Walter Hays, Global Alliance for Disaster Reduction, Vienna, Disaster Reduction, Vienna,

Virginia, USA 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 INTER-NATIONAL 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 PHOTOSCREDIT: 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.

FACTMOST OF THE 200 + NATIONS

NEED EARTHQUAKE DISASTER RESILIENCE POLICIES THAT ARE BASED ON LESSONS LEARNED

FROM PAST EARTHQUAKE DISASTER LABORATORIES

YOUR YOUR

COMMUNITYCOMMUNITY

YOUR YOUR

COMMUNITYCOMMUNITYDATA BASES DATA BASES AND INFORMATIONAND INFORMATIONDATA BASES DATA BASES AND INFORMATIONAND INFORMATION

HAZARDS: GROUND SHAKING GROUND FAILURE SURFACE FAULTING TECTONIC DEFORMATION TSUNAMI RUN UP AFTERSHOCKS

•MONITORING•HAZARD MAPS•INVENTORY•VULNERABILITY•LOCATION

RISK

ACCEPTABLE RISK

UNACCEPTABLE RISK

BOOKS OF KNOWLEDGE BOOKS OF KNOWLEDGE

•PREPAREDNESS•PROTECTION•EM RESPONSE•RECOSTRUCTION AND RECOVERY

EARTHQUAKE DISASTER EARTHQUAKE DISASTER RESILIENCERESILIENCE

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 MUST-HAPPEN 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