he April 25 earthquake in Nepal has caused mass devastation, killing and injuring thousands of people, and highlighting the country's vulnerability to disaster. Dinesh C Sharma reports. Kathmandu, Nepal's picturesque capital located in the foothills of the Himalayas, is usually teeming with tourists and locals going about their daily lives. But, on April 25, it looked more like a war-ravaged city after a 7·8 magnitude earthquake struck causing widespread devastation.
The impact of the quake, which had its epicentre 77 km northwest of Kathmandu in the district of Lamjung, was felt across western and central Nepal and parts of north India (figure). The disaster, which also triggered an avalanche on Mount Everest, burying parts of the base camp, has left more than 7400 people dead and more than 14 000 injured, with most of the casualties reported from Kathmandu region, according to data released by Nepal's National Emergency Operations Center on May 4. The casualty figure is expected to rise as rescue teams clear debris in outlying areas, which can only be reached by foot because road and communication infrastructure is severely damaged. In the north Indian states of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, about 80 people were killed.
