Earthquake Devastates Nepal

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On the morning of April 25 2015, Nepal was hit with a 7.8 magnitude earthquake. The earthquake and aftershocks, along with the avalanches and landslides that followed, resulted in nearly 9000 deaths, hundreds missing and approximately 20,000 injured. Hundreds of thousands of Nepalis were made homeless, with entire villages flattened. The main shock and subsequent disasters destroyed a large number of buildings and infrastructure in urban and rural areas, and triggered numerous landslides and rock/boulder falls in mountainous areas, blocking roads, and hampering rescue and recovery efforts. The delivery of relief services to the people in need was complicated by the remoteness of many villages from the existing transportation network. Health centers that were left standing were overrun with patients and were still vulnerable to aftershocks. Healthcare workers were left to treat the injured in mobile and makeshift facilities.

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UBW was able to respond within days by sending Siddhi Memorial Hospital, in the hard hit city of Bhaktapur, $12,200 CDN to help purchase medications and emergency supplies to treat patients. An additional $7,250 CDN was raised and local partners on the ground mobilized to bring rice, cooking oil, bathing soap, and dishwashing soap to over 1,500 houses in rural villages.

 

UBW also secured a commitment from Cathay Pacific Cargo to provide space in a shipping container heading to Kathmandu free of charge. Thanks to some generous support we were able to fill it with medical supplies, compact tents, tarps, blankets, toiletries, and water purification tablets. Due to unforeseen circumstances, the shipment never made it to its final destination. The Tribhuvan International Airport was temporarily closed due to runway damage and once reopened, its single runway resulted in a bottleneck that slowed recovery efforts. The government's delay in providing direction and information impeeded urgent relief efforts and frustrated aid agencies around the world. This has since lead to the Disaster Risk Management initiative which has made significant achievements in terms of legal framework, policy instruments, and institutional arrangements for disaster risk management in Nepal.