Sis's response to tragedy in nepal
By Elliot Kim and William Seo
Edited by Sarah Ryu
Design by Nicole Yang
Edited by Sarah Ryu
Design by Nicole Yang
On April 25, 2015, the ground under Nepal trembled, destroying thousands of houses. This earthquake originated at a depth of only 15 km, 80 km away from Kathmandu, the capital city of Nepal. This made the earthquake even more devastating as the future of this city isn’t unsure of its safety.
This earthquake was measured to have a whopping magnitude of 7.9, making it the strongest earthquake to strike Nepal since 1934. By May 1st, death tolls rose to 7,000, and 14,000 were injured. The tragedy demolished entire villages, as well as some important landmarks. "This is a very catastrophic event in a very poor nation,” said Rajiv Biswas, chief Asia-Pacific economist at IHS. “The cost of reconstruction over the next few years will be massive. Rebuilding costs could easily exceed USD$5 billion, which would be about 20 percent of Nepal's gross domestic product.” As Nepal is one of Asia’s poorest countries, the struggle was present even before the crisis where it ranked 104th in terms of GDP per capita. This unfortunate event put Nepal even further behind, making it more difficult for them to continue development. Thankfully, many countries eagerly helped out nepal, providing support in many forms, such as funds and rescue staff. The encouraging aid from many countries gave Nepal a head start in the reconstruction of their country. Without the rest of the world, Nepal would have suffered more casualties and would not have been able to recover any faster. It is also important to note that GIN, a club in SIS is also helping to pave the way for Nepal’s road back to recovery. “As the club GIN, we are fundraising and trying to raise awareness [of the crisis] at the same time,” says Sky Park, a member of the GIN. “We are going to have a board in the Atrium to raise funds.” On May 12th, before Nepal was able to get back on its feet, they were struck with a huge aftershock that had the magnitude of 7.3. This earthquake worsened the damage done by April’s earthquake. The aftershock has intensified the fear in the Nepalese survivors. “We don’t want to go home right now,” say the survivors of this tragedy. “We are afraid our house will collapse.” We should all pray for Nepal that it will soon be able to recover successfully without any more dreadful aftershocks. |
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