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How the Earthquake Impacted Nepal:
The April 25th, 2015 7.9 Gorkha earthquake & May 12th 7.3 earthquake along with thousands of aftershocks have caused catastrophic damage to the many regions of Gorkha, Sindhupalchowk, Dolakha, Langtang, parts of eastern Nepal, the Kathmandu Valley, The Rowlowling, Gauari Shankar region, the Solu Khumbu, in addition to Kathmandu. Many villages in these regions had over 90% of the buildings heavily damaged or destroyed. The monsoon is already starting to cause landslides in mountainous areas causing more damage to areas already impacted by the earthquakes. The pictures in the slide show to the left were taken in Kathmandu from May 9th-May 16th, 2015. The picture of the damaged lodge was taken in Thadkoshi in the Solu Khumbu area, a 1 to 2 hour walk from Lukla next to Ghat. The initial April 25th earthquake and May 12th earthquake caused immense damage to property, over 8,500 deaths, and thousands more injuries. It left hundreds of thousands homeless and without basic services such as hospitals, schools, lodging, or market areas. Hundreds of villages in these areas were completely destroyed by landslides, crumbling earth, & avalanches. Many of villagers in the rural mountainous areas of Nepal, especially in the Gorkha, Sindhupalchowk, Dolakha, Langtang, and parts of Eastern Nepal are left homeless. I was in Kathmandu volunteering on a medical mission with Project Hope when the May 12th earthquake struck, and saw first hand the devastation and trauma caused in the aftermath. In addition many historical sights in Kathmandu, Bhaktapur, Patan and other areas in Nepal were damaged or destroyed by the earthquake. Most of the information regarding the EBC found on this webpage was written prior to the April, 25th earthquake therefore some of the lodges and facilities described in various sections may be heavily damaged or destroyed. Although much of the trail described in the following pages is open information regarding the Jiri-Lukla route is sketchy and these villages, although impacted by the earthquake, have not received a lot of aid. Some of this part of the trail may be blocked by landslides. Some reports have come in that certain villages were severely impacted by the earthquakes while others were relatively spared. As more information has come out about the Lukla-Gokyo-Chukhung-EBC sections many villages along this route sustained significant damage from both earthquakes and are in the rebuilding process, but several families are waiting until the end of monsoon season to rebuild. Villages such as Phortse, Khumjung, Thame, Dingboche, and villages surrounding Namche Bazaar, & Lukla were damaged. Friends living close to Ghat report they have seen few tourists in the area but people are still encouraging tourists to visit the Solu Khumbu region. Please do lots of research prior to hiking the entire trail regarding what trails may be blocked and what villages were directly impacted by the earthquakes. To donate to various charities & NGO's helping to rebuild Nepal please click on this link To find out more information in articles and videos about the Nepal Earthquakes please click on the following links: Videos: -https://youtu.be/9INhK1sWe0s -https://youtu.be/SiNF8Ef1TKA Articles: -http://www.wsj.com/articles/nepal-hit-by-another-major-earthquake-1431416952 -http://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/13/world/asia/nepal-earthquake-east-of-kathmandu.html?_r=0 |
