Nepal Earthquake Occurred just before midday on 25 April Magnitude at a depth of around 15 kilometres The epicentre was the village of Barpak in the Gorkha district The tremors were felt as far away as India, Pakistan and Bhutan. The earthquake was followed by as many as 120 aftershocks – and they continue. The aftershocks caused fresh avalanches on Mt Everest Ancient buildings such as the UNESCO World Heritage site, Durbar Square, were destroyed. More than 450,000 people are displaced, and 1 million children need urgent assistance. Hundreds of thousands of houses were destroyed across many districts, and entire villages flattened. The full scale of the disaster is not yet fully understood due to the difficulty in accessing many remote, rural areas. Nepal, already a country struggling with widespread poverty before the earthquake, faces many years of recovery and rebuilding.

Budget Hotel in Thamel before and after

Solukhumbu The Solukhumbu region is a mountainous area below Everest. Approximately 100,000 people live here, in very remote and harsh conditions. Many roads and paths are now blocked meaning it is hard to get much needed resources to the area. Villagers are sleeping outside in tents or under tarpaulins, many hospitals and health posts can’t be used and children are not able to attend school because the buildings are destroyed or damaged. The monsoon season begins in a few weeks and so it is vital that both temporary help and long term rebuilding takes place. Initial reports from the district indicate 44 schools have been totally destroyed in the district, a further 51 schools have partial damage.

What is the Himalayan Trust doing? We want to “build back better”. We have an assessment team, including a local engineer already in the area – determining the level of damage, so we can prioritise our rebuild efforts. Tarpaulins, tents and emergency supplies have been distributed to many communities. More are on their way. Our focus will rebuilding classrooms and clinics, ensuring new buildings are earthquake proof and of a better quality than before. This will require a long-term commitment from the Himalayan Trust.