Local Voices: 6.9 Earthquake Strikes Nepal: the NAS Perspective

 Despite the hemispherical gulf between Nepal and California, the residents in each (30 million in Nepal and 37 million in CA) share a common threat to safety: that of a major earthquake.  Just as Palo Alto sits precariously atop the San Andreas Fault (a transform fault bridging the Pacific and North American Plates), Kathmandu rests dangerously close to the many active faults in Nepal (formed from the subduction of the Indian Plate underneath the Eurasian Plate).  Despite the tectonic similarity of their respective terra firma, or lack thereof, Kathmanduites and Palo Altans diverge dramatically with respect to disaster risk reduction and response preparedness.

The Government of Nepal (GoN) and the international community in Nepal have prioritized the development of Nepal’s capacity in this area and has already enacted many important measures and projects, but the country remains highly vulnerable.  Rapid urbanization combined with unsafe building practices make the Kathmandu Valley a particularly at-risk area.  Moreover, Nepal’s landlocked geography will inhibit the efficiency of an international response.  Nepal’s existing infrastructure and disaster preparedness – comparable with Haiti – and the potential magnitude of an earthquake – comparable with Japan – together form a dire scenario.

Thus, when I felt the ground beneath me to shake on Sunday evening as I watched the pre-game for the Liverpool-Tottenham match, I knew the stakes that such a trembling held.  The strong tremors, which emanated from the epicenter on the Nepal-India border in Sikkim at a depth of 20 km and a magnitude of 6.9 on the Richter Scale, persisted in Kathmandu (169 miles to the East) for 30 seconds.  A detailed account of the event is available from UN OCHA here.

Fortunately, the damage in the region and Nepal was not devastating.  Sadly, three people died in Kathmandu after a brick wall at the British Embassy collapsed.  Many buildings collapsed elsewhere in the valley.  According to My Republica, a total of 11 persons died in Nepal and 33 were injured, as of Wednesday.  It is possible that this toll could have been worse as many farmers were harvesting rice during the event when their houses collapsed.

NAS, as Nepal’s first EMS system is dedicated not just to responding to medical emergencies on a daily basis, but also to providing pre-hospital care to emergent patients victim to natural disasters.  In fact, two NAS Board Members, Mahesh Nakarmi and Dr. Kulesh Thapa are disaster preparedness and risk reduction experts in the Kathmandu context and provide invaluable perspective as NAS builds its response capacity.

NAS ambulances responded to only two earthquake-related emergent cases: a motorcycle road traffic accident and an anxiety attack.

NAS, like the rest of Nepal, has a long way to go in earthquake preparedness.  In particular, NAS hopes to buttress the technical training that NAS EMTs possess in managing traumatic injuries commonly seen following an earthquake such as crush injuries and amputations, with improved communications infrastructure and closer collaboration with the primary GoN disaster management body, the National Emergency Operations Centre (NEOC).  In similar efforts of integration with existing systems of national and international disaster preparedness efforts, NAS attended a 3-day USAID-Led Earthquake Preparedness Seminar in August and recently joined the WHO-led Inter-Agency Standing Committee Health Cluster.  As the NAS EMS System continues to prepare its response capacity, cooperation in these ways is paramount.  As U.S. Ambassador DeLisi cautioned at the USAID Seminar, the question of an earthquake is not one of “if”, but rather one of “when.”  On Sunday, Nepal was fortunate to escape more extreme damage.  Hopefully the event will reinvigorate earthquake preparedness efforts to reduce future loss of life in Nepal.