Nepal earthquake: as it happened April 24

Posted on by Listify Me

07.00

Planeloads of aid material, doctors and relief workers from neighboring countries has begun arriving. With Kathmandu airport reopened, the first aid flights began delivering aid supplies. The first to respond were Nepal’s neighbours – India, China and Pakistan, all of which have been jockeying for influence over the landlocked nation. Still, Nepal, the world’s only Hindu nation, remains closest to India with which it shares deep political, cultural and religious ties.

Indian air force planes landed early this morning with 43 tons of relief material, including tents and food, and nearly 200 rescuers.

06.01

While most modern buildings remained standing after the quake, it brought down several buildings in the center of the capital as well as centuries-old temples and towers. Among them was the nine-story Dharahara Tower, a Kathmandu landmark built by Nepal’s royal rulers as a watchtower in the 1800s and a UNESCO-recognised historical monument. It was reduced to rubble and there were reports of people trapped underneath.

The Kathmandu Valley is listed as a World Heritage site. The Buddhist stupas, public squares and Hindu temples are some of the most well-known sites in Kathmandu, and now some of the most deeply mourned. Nepali journalist and author Shiwani Neupane tweeted: “The sadness is sinking in. We have lost our temples, our history, the places we grew up.”

05.00

Several helicopters have just landed at Mount Everest base camp to rescue the dozens of injured. “People being stretchered out as choppers land – half a dozen this morning,” Nepal Mountaineering Association chief Ammu Kannampilly says. “Weather clear, some snowfall.” There are around 100 climbers at camps 1 and 2 on Mount Everest, above base camp, and all are reportedly safe.

04.00

Second confirmed victim is New Jersey-born Dr Marisa Eve Girawong, 29, who was killed when ice and rock crushed the 18,000ft-altitude base camp where she worked as a medic for Madison Mountaineering. Dr Girwaong had studied at Rutgers University before specialising in mountaineering medication at the University of Leicester in the UK.

03.45

Bad weather is frustrating efforts to rescue hundreds of climbers stranded on Mount Everest. Two helicopters were unable to reach the base camp – where hundreds are trapped because of heavy cloud, according to Ang Tshering Sherpa, president of the Nepal Mountaineering Association.

“As soon as the weather improves and the visibility is clear, rescue helicopters will fly there,” he said.

The avalanche swept down the mountain, burying part of the base camp as climbers gathered near the main route to the summit at the beginning of the climbing season. April is one of the most popular times to scale the 29,035 foot) peak before rain and clouds cloak it at the end of May. Almost exactly a year ago, an avalanche killed 16 Nepali guides in what was the single deadliest day on the mountain.

03.00

Nepal’s Home Ministry says the death toll from Saturday’s devastating earthquake has reached 1,805. The latest toll puts the overall regional fatalities at 1,865, while the number of injured is 4,700 and counting.

00.20

What we know is that 18 climbers are thought to have been killed in the Everest avalanche. They only victim named so far is Google engineer Dan Fredinburg (see below). An Indian army mountaineering team found 18 bodies on Everest. Nepal’s Tourism Ministry could only confirm 10 deaths, but a spokesman said that the death toll could rise, and that the avalanche had buried part of the base camp.

22.45

The first named victim of the avalanche on Everest is Dan Fredinburg, who worked as the head of privacy at Google X (the secretive laboratory project at Google). Read more on him here. Fredinburg, 33, had been travelling with three other employees through Sheffield-based firm Jagged Edge and suffered fatal head injuries.

22.40

Nepal’s devastating earthquake was the disaster experts knew was coming.

Just a week ago, about 50 earthquake and social scientists from around the world came to Kathmandu, Nepal, to figure out how to get this poor, congested, overdeveloped, shoddily built area to prepare better for the big one, a repeat of the 1934 temblor that leveled this city. They knew they were racing the clock, but they didn’t know when what they feared would strike.

“It was sort of a nightmare waiting to happen,” said seismologist James Jackson, head of the earth sciences department at the University of Cambridge in England. “Physically and geologically what happened is exactly what we thought would happen.”

But he didn’t expect the massive quake that struck Saturday to happen so soon. The magnitude 7.8 earthquake killed nearly 1,400 and counting and caused widespread destruction.

“I was walking through that very area where that earthquake was and I thought at the very time that the area was heading for trouble,” said Jackson, lead scientist for Earthquakes Without Frontiers, a group that tries to make Asia more able to bounce back from these disasters and was having the meeting.

People sleep outside on a street a in Kathmandu following the earthquake

22.20

A Nepalese police official says at least 1,394 people are confirmed dead after a massive earthquake that struck the Himalayan nation.

Inspector Yuvraj Khadka of Nepal’s national police force says that the death toll is expected to continue rising as rescurers get to harder-to-reach areas, including Everest.

21.55

Hospitals across the impoverished nation of 28 million people struggled to cope with the dead and injured from Nepal’s worst quake in 81 years, and a lack of equipment meant rescuers could look no deeper than surface rubble for signs of life.

Ramesh Pokharel, a staff member of the Bhaktapur Hospital on the outskirts of Kathmandu, said that around 50 bodies were lying in a field outside.

Doctors were treating patients in a makeshift tent next to the main building, and staff were too busy to count or register names of the casualties.

“It’s chaos here,” Pokharel said.

21.40

For anyone who wants to donate, you can pledge money to Save the Children by clicking here. If you are looking for someone missing in Nepal, try Google’s people finder here.

21.33

The United States and the European Union were among those to pledge assistance to the government of Nepal, as messages of support poured in from world leaders including China’s Xi Jinping, France’s Francois Hollande, Germany’s Angela Merkel and Russia’s Vladimir Putin.

The US is sending a disaster response team and has authorised an initial $1 million in aid to address immediate needs, the US Agency for International Development said. The European Union also said its humanitarian experts were heading to the crisis areas.

21.24

AP has a sad piece on how none of this should have come as a surprise. Just a week ago, about 50 earthquake and social scientists from around the world came to Kathmandu, Nepal, to figure out how to get this poor, congested, overdeveloped, shoddily built area to prepare better for the big one, a repeat of the 1934 quake that leveled this city. They knew they were racing the clock, but they didn’t know when what they feared would strike. As James Jackson, head of the Earth Sciences Department at Cambridge University, put it:

QuoteIt was sort of a nightmare waiting to happen. Physically and geologically what happened is exactly what we thought would happen.

21.17

21.12

Here it is in nuts and bolts from the UN’s Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs: what’s affected, how badly and what now is needed…

QuoteThe worst affected districts include Sindulpalchowk, Kavre, Nuwakot, Rasuwa, Dolakha in the center region and Kaski, Gorkha, Lamjung in the western region.

Impacts in Kathmandu valley include collapsed historic buildings in centres, but less overall damage and collapse of buildings than expected. In Kathmandu Valley, hospitals are overcrowded and running short on emergency supplies, and morgues are running out of space. BIR hospital is reported to be treating people in the streets.

The government has requested international assistance, particularly as it pertains to the most critical humanitarian needs:

  • Search and Rescue capacity;
  • Medical teams, supplies and tenting for hospitals, and body bags;
  • Heavy equipment for rubble removal;
  • Helicopters for transport and access to blocked areas.

21.01

Dan Fredinburg, head of privacy for Google X, the company’s ideas lab

One of the dead on Everest has been named as Dan Fredinburg, who was an executive with Google and kept followers up to date with his adventures via Twitter and Instagram as he attempted to add Everest to Google Maps. His death was confirmed by Jagged Edge, the travel company which had taken him to base camp, and by a moving message from his sister on Instagram….

Quote This is Dan’s little sister Megan. I regret to inform all who loved him that during the avalanche on Everest early this morning our Dan suffered from a major head injury and didn’t make it. We appreciate all of the love that has been sent our way thus far and know his soul and his spirit will live on in so many of us. All our love and thanks to those who shared this life with our favorite hilarious strong willed man. He was and is everything to us. Thank you.

20.45

It’s dark there now, but more pictures have arrived from Everest base camp. At least 10 climbers were killed and 30 injured in an avalanche triggered by the earthquake.

Everest base camp earlier today

20.37

Kashish Das Shrestha is providing updates on life in Kathmandu tonight. No-one is getting any sleep. His Twitter timeline makes for compelling reading…

20.23

Facebook has activated Safety Check, a service for travellers and others in the earthquake zone to quickly let friends and family know that they are OK. It is one of an increasing number of online tools that exist for exactly these sorts of emergencies. Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook CEO, has explained how it works:

Quote If you’re in one of the areas affected by the earthquake, you’ll get a notification asking if you’re safe, and whether you want to check on any of your friends.

When disasters happen, people need to know their loved ones are safe. It’s moments like this that being able to connect really matters.

My thoughts are with everyone who’s been caught up in this tragedy.

20.15

David Clinch, of Storyful which works to verify online content, has some sound advice for anyone monitoring social media to find out the latest news from Nepal…

20.10

20.02

John Kerry, US Secretary of State, has issued a statement promising assistance and offering his condolences to Nepal.

Quote We are working closely with the government of Nepal to provide assistance and support. Ambassador Bodde has issued a disaster declaration in order to immediately release an initial $1 million for humanitarian assistance. USAID is preparing to deploy a Disaster Assistance Response Team and is activating an Urban Search and Rescue Team to accompany disaster experts and assist with assessments of the situation.

To the people in Nepal and the region affected by this tragedy we send our heartfelt sympathies. The United States stands with you during this difficult time.

20.00

It’s a desperately anxious time for dozens of sets of relatives around the UK, waiting for news of loved ones who were in Nepal. Several are listed on Google’s Person Finder Tool, includin Sebastian Lovera, a 22-year-old ski-ing and diving instructor, from Tonbridge, Kent. His last known location was Khumjung on Tuesday. Greg Smye-Rumsby, his step-father, told the Press Association he was heading towards Everest Base Camp.

Quote Sebastian is an extremely lively and self-motivating person and that is why he went to Nepal.

We haven’t heard from him. He would not have switched his phone off. We have tried ringing it. Sometimes it rings and sometimes we get an answer but it’s an automated answer. It says the phone is switched off.

He’s certainly not a person to take risks. He’s the absolute opposite.

19.50

Children are still terrified, particularly with the threat of aftershocks causing more damage

19.37

Pakistan, which has a long history of dealing with its own natural disasters, has announced it is sending four C-130 planes packed with life-saving equipment and rescue teams. The planes will be carrying a 30-bed hospital, doctors and sniffer dogs, as well as hundreds of blankets and tents.

19.31

Bloomberg is reporting the death toll is now more than 1,500.

19.10

The Telegraph’s Harriet Alexander on how ancient cities have been destroyed across Nepal:

Quote It was a fresh spring day in Kathmandu, and Dharmu Subedi decided it was time for a bird’s-eye view of the ancient city. The 36-year-old made his way to the landmark Dharahara tower – a soaring, nine-storey building, jutting upwards from the valley into the sky – which for the past ten years had served as a popular tourist observation point.

But as Mr Subedi made his way towards the tower entrance, the earth buckled and surged beneath him. Nepal’s biggest earthquake in 80 years struck the heart of the capital, killing over 1,300 people and sending buildings tumbling to the ground.

As bodies were pulled out of the ruins of the Dharahara Tower, a policeman said up to 200 people had been trapped inside (AFP/Getty)

18.41

Rupa Joshi, a Unicef official in Nepal has said:

Quote The shake was like nothing I have experienced in my 57 years. It was strong and it shook for a long time. Many old monuments, including famous temples and stupas have come down. Many people fear Kathmandu will have very a high death rate. Fortunately, today is Saturday so schools were off and the quake came in the daytime.

When I went out in the evening, I saw many people preparing to camp out in the main open parade ground in the middle of the street. Relatives were crying in the main government hospital where the dead were being lined up in front of the hospital building.

Reuters

18.39

The death toll has risen sharply again – 1,341.

18.32

More Telegraph Video footage of the damage caused by the earthquake in Kathmandu:

18.11

The earthquake has caused deaths across several countries – more than 1,000 in Nepal and another 50 people killed in India, Tibet and Bangladesh.

Devastation at Everest base camp (Azim Afif)

17.57

Laura Wood, Julia Carroll and Daniel Mazur are all currently unaccounted for

Dozens of British travellers and climbers are among the hundreds feared missing or dead after being caught up in the devastating Nepalese earthquake and Everest avalanche that followed, The Telegraph’s Patrick Sawer reports:

Quote A large number of British travellers in their 30s, 40s and 50s who had used their lifesavings to pay for a trip of a lifetime to climb Everest are also still unaccounted for.

Six out of the eight teams of Britons who had booking the adventure holiday with Jagged Globe, a travel company, are missing.

Tom Briggs, the firm’s director, said: “We are still waiting to hear from our teams. The phone lines have been jammed. We have eight teams there at the moment and only two have checked in so far. We have about 70 people out there. They are mostly British people but we also have people from Australia and Ireland. The people travelling had been saving up for a trip of a lifetime for an adventure holiday.

17.30

17.11

The Indian army has retrieved 18 corpses from Everest.

People work to rescue trapped people inside a temple in Bashantapur Durbar Square after the major earthquake hit Kathmandu (Reuters)

17.00

Here is a round-up of what we know so far from the Nepal earthquake and Everest avalanche:

Quote HOW BAD IS THE DAMAGE?

The earthquake hit a heavily populated area of Nepal, including the capital, Kathmandu, and its impact spread far beyond the Kathmandu Valley. Strong aftershocks were felt an hour after the initial earthquake.

Earthquake experts are preparing for high numbers in terms of deaths and damage.

“This is a very large earthquake in a significantly populated region with infrastructure that has been damaged in past earthquakes,” US Geological Survey seismologist Paul Earle said. “Significant fatalities are expected.”

16.49

16.47

The Nepal death toll has passed 1,000 – it is 1,130 according to police. Of the total, 634 were reported dead in the Kathmandu Valley and at least 300 more in the capital.

Members of India’s National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) prepare relief materials to be airlifted to Nepal to provide assistance to victims (AFP / Getty)

16.34

The ICRC (International Committee of Red Cross) have launched a Nepal page of their family tracing website – another way friends, relatives and colleagues can try and track people down who they may be worries about in Nepal.

16.32

Phillips Hammond, the Foreign Secretary, has said:

Quote My thoughts are with the people of Nepal and everyone affected by the terrible loss of life and widespread damage caused by the earthquake.

We are in close contact with the Nepalese government. The British Embassy in Nepal is offering our assistance to the authorities and is providing consular assistance to British Nationals.

A taxi is buried under debris from a collapsed building in Thamel, Kathmandu (Getty)

16.07

The US is sending a disaster response team to Nepal.

15.33

Pictures of the damage at Bhaktapur:

15.18

Plan International staff estimate that more than half of houses have been destroyed in Bhaktapur – a Unesco world heritage site eight miles east of Kathmandu. 970 people are now reported dead.

15.01

More footage from Kathmandu:

14.54

14.46

14.42

The death toll has risen to 758, a home ministry official said, of which 467 were in the Kathmandu Valley that is the most heavily populated part of the Himalayan country.

Earlier, a home ministry official said that 181 people had died in the capital Kathmandu in the quake, which measured 7.9 on the Richter scale.

14.32

Al Jazeera say that this is the worst earthquake to hit Nepal for 80 years.

14.11

More pictures showing the scene at Everest base camp:

13.58

The first aid plane has landed in Kathmandu – the airport is expected to be closed for two days to commercial flights:

13.52

Google has launched a ‘person finder‘ for worries friends, relatives and collagues of people potentially caught up in the Nepal earthquake.

13.21

The death toll has risen to 718 people across four countries – and ten deaths now reported at Everest base camp.

A Nepalese man stands with his dog as rescue workers remove debris at Durbar Square after an earthquake in Kathmandu AP

13.05

Sean James, a 44-year-old British man who lives in Dubai, was at the north side of Everest base camp. He told The Telegraph:

Quote I am a professional climber – I’ve been in the mountains a few times with avalanches, but not one this big.

We were doing admin at the time when the earthquake started, we just jumped out of our tents. When the earthquake struck – it’s like a boat, you won’t believe it. You feel like you will fall over, it’s rocking and physical, you think they earth might open up and swallow you.

We were climbing from the south. I’ve worked on the mountains on the south side – it’s a lot more popular. It’s near the Kumbu icefall – it’s very dangerous. They fall anyway without earthquakes because they melt. They put ladders to cross it. Even if there’s a small quake it’s dangerous.

Everyone on the north side is fine. One of the guys in the south side has said he’s OK – another hasn’t replied. The climbing community is a small world. You know people who are there. We’re keen to find out about our sherpas and their families in Kathmandu.

I’m wondering about the roads to get back – the pass is often obstructed by landslides.We had just come down from about 7000 metres, where we had been for seven days. We left sherpas there to fix the camps, and we came down for a break for rest.

Local TV shows images of destruction in Kathmandu (www.unpixs.com)

12.38

Video from India’s Times Now channel of a climber speaking from Everest:

12.33

Telegraph video of the remains of the 19th century tower that collapsed in Kathmandu:

12.23

The Nepal death toll is now 618.

12.08

Flights to Kathmandu have been suspended.

Climbing company Jagged Globe has teams at Everest. It said:

Quote We have received some information from Nepal. We have two teams in Kathmandu. They are our Mera Peak Expedition that left the UK on April 3 and our Annapurna Circuit team that started on April 9. Members of these teams are safe in the Summit Hotel, Kathmandu.

We await status reports from other teams: Dhaulagiri Circuit, Everest, Mera and Island Peak, Private Dhaulagiri Circuit (David Eldor) and a film team in Gorak Shep associated with the Everest expedition. We will report team’s status as when possible.

12.07

At least 8 dead at Everest base camp. Nepal tourism official Gyanendra Shrestha says:

Quote The toll could go up, it may include foreigners as well as sherpas.

A road blocked by a landslide in Gyirong County of Xigaze Prefecture, southwest China’s Tibet Autonomous Region (Xinhua/Corbis)

11.48

A Nepal tourism official has confirmed that part of Everest base camp was burried by the avalanche.

11.44

The death toll has reason to 449, Nepal police have just announced.

An injured child lies on the ground outside the Medicare Hospital in Kathmandu, Nepal (AP)

11.42

Alex Staniforth, 19, from Cheshire, was at Everest base camp when the avalanche hit.

It is his second attempt to climb to the summit after his 2014 expedition was scrapped following the avalanche tragedy last year.

Epilepsy sufferer Alex, who became the youngest person to complete the National 3 Peaks Cycle challenge solo last October, told his support team he was “shaken”.

11.38

Eric Arnold, from Rotterdam, a climber on Everest, said he thought someone was shaking his tent as a joke before realising it was an earthquake.

He said he opened his tent to see three curtains of snow falling down.

11.36

There are now pictures of earthquake damage in Tibet:

People stand near collapsed houses in Nyalam County of Xigaze Prefecture, southwest China’s Tibet Autonomous Region AP

11.35

Video of chaos on the streets of Kathmandu:

11.32

The Telegraph’s Dean Nelson reports from Delhi:

Quote I was sitting at my desk when the tremors began – at first it seemed like the rumbling of heavy truck rattling the windows of our home in central Delhi. But then my desk began shaking and I remembered the Kashmir earthquake in 2005 which felt exactly the same.

My youngest son was staying with a friend at his high-rise apartment in Gurgaon, the modern satellite town on the outskirts of Delhi. I called to check he was safe and he, his friend and his family were breathlessly clambering down the stairs from the fifteenth floor – their skyscraper was swaying in the aftershocks and everyone in the block was rushing to evacuate. All returned to their flats some time later, but the fear of earthquakes, especially in the capital’s high rises is very real.

11.10

A Foreign Office spokesman said:

Quote We are aware of reports of an earthquake in Nepal. We are urgently looking into it. Our thoughts are with all those affected. Our Embassy staff stand ready to help any British nationals who may need assistance.

People search for survivors stuck under the rubble of a destroyed building, after an earthquake caused serious damage in Kathmandu EPA

10.47

More from climbers on Everest:

10.39

More reports on Twitter of the avalanche on Everest:

10.36

The death toll, as expected, is rising rapidly. Nepal police now saying 108 people dead.

People search in a buildings rubble in Kathmandu AP

10.33

Kathmandu main civil hospital has counted 36 bodies so far, Reuters reports.

10.21

‘Possibly hundreds dead’

Krishna Prasad Dhakal, the deputy chief of mission at Nepal’s embassy in New Delhi, tells AFP:

Quote We have received reports that there is a big loss of property and life in Nepal.

Possibly hundreds of people have died in various parts of the country, particularly in Kathmandu and Pokhara.

10.16

There are reports that there has been an avalanche on Everest, with base camp damaged and Camp 1 swept away. Climbers are apparently missing according to social media reports, which are currently not possible to verify:

People search for survivors stuck under the rubble of a destroyed building, after an earthquake caused serious damage in Kathmandu, Nepal EPA

09.49

Pictures are dropping of the collapsed tower in Kathmandu:

The Darahara Tower in Kathmandu, before and after the earthquake (Alamy AFP/Getty)

09.36

Around a dozen bodies have been taken away from the ruins of the Dharhara tower in the centre of the capital, AFP reports

Dharahara tower

The Dharara Tower, built in 1832, was a historic landmark that had been open to visitors for the last 10 years and had a viewing balcony on its eighth floor.

One body was removed from the tower and a second lay further up the road, the witness said. It was not immediately clear how many people were in the multi-storey tower when it collapsed.

A man walks past a collapsed building in Kathmandu AP

09.23

Kathmandu’s landmark Dharahara tower collapses after quake, AFP reports citing a witness

Injured people receive treatment outside the Medicare Hospital in Kathmandu, Nepal AP

08.44

A 15-year-old girl has been killed in northern India after the earthquake brought down the wall of her home in a village near the border with Nepal.

08.38

Initially measured at 7.5 magnitude, the quake has been adjusted to 7.9, with a depth of 15 kilometres, the USGS said. It hit 68 kilometres east of the tourist town of Pokhara.

08.36

First reports of fatalities. A girl has been killed in a town outside Kathmandu by a falling statue in a park.

The epicentre of the earthquake

08.31

Dozens of people with injuries were being brought to the main hospital in central Kathmandu. There was no immediate estimate on fatalities.

Several buildings collapsed in the center of the capital, including centuries-old temples,

08.28

An AFP reporter in Kathmandu says:

Quote The walls of houses have collapsed around me onto the road. All the families are outside in their yards huddled together. The tremors are still going on.

People take refuge at a school after the earthquake struck (REUTERS/Navesh Chitrakar)

08.22

The United States Geological Survey said the earthquake was 7.5 magnitude, while other reports put it at 7.7 magnitude.

A shake map released by the US Geological Survey (USGS) shows the location of the 7.5 magnitude earthquake

08.20 London (13.05 Kathmandu, 12.50 Delhi)

Hello – welcome to our live coverage of a powerful earthquake that has struck Kathmandu – and caused tremors across the region.

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