Nepal calamity

Nepal was struck by a powerful 7.8 magnitude earthquake. According to latest figures, over 7,500 people have so far lost their lives and over 14,000 people have been injured. Over 800 people have died in Kathmandu alone. The intensity of the earthquake was so powerful that it sparked off avalanches on Mount Everest. It is feared that over 200 mountaineers have also lost their lives. What is equally tragic is that the loss of human life is compounded by the loss of human civilisation: historical and cultural heritage sites of international eminence have literally been reduced to debris. Located at the meeting point of the Indian and Central Asian tectonic plates that are converging by 4- 5cm a year, Nepal is prone to persistent, low-intensity earthquakes. Aftershocks of the deadly earthquake continued to recur and frighten the already terrorised people who were passing sleepless nights in the open. The devastation caused by the earthquake is beyond the capacity of the Nepalese government to deal with itself. Without international help restoration of the quake-hit regions of the country would indeed be extremely difficult. However, the initial international response was unfortunately not up to the mark. M Fazal Elahi Islamabad