FURTHER DETAILS OF QUAKE DAMAGE

QUAKE LEAVES A TRAIL OF DEATH AND DESTRUCTION

Kathmandu, 20 Sept. Sunday’s earthquake left a trail of destruction in different parts of the country. The temblor measuring 6.8 on the Richter scale caused over 46 deaths and inflicted damage to property, mainly in the hilly districts of eastern Nepal and the northern Indian state of Sikkim, the quake’s epicenter, The Kathmandu Post reports.
While there are reports of the the toll mounting to 39 in Sikkim on Monday evening, the number of quake related deaths in Nepal climbed to 11 from the earlier six. Five more deaths were reported from Taplejung (1), the district closest to the epicentre, Sankhuwasabha (1), Sunsari (2), Bara (1) and Jhapa (1).
The Home Ministry, however, put the death toll at six till Monday evening. Three died in Kathmandu when a British embassy wall collapsed on Sunday evening. Officials said the damage in the eastern districts, which are closer to the epicentre, could be higher than what has been reported initially.
The Taplejung District Natural Disaster Relief Committee said the quake destroyed 136 houses and injured 10 people in the district alone. Yamfudin, Sangu and Sinam VDCs saw large scale property damage. All the 47 schools in Taplejung were damaged in the quake. Landslides triggered by the quake, meanwhile, blocked the trail leading to the Kanchanjunga Base Camp. The actual figure of property damage in Taplejung could be more, as officials were not done collecting data from all the 50 VDCs as of Monday, a Nepal Red Cross official said.
In Panchthar district, 126 families were displaced in the quake. Around 250 houses were destroyed, while many houses in places like Memeng, Aangsarang, Mauwa, Ranitar, Raake, Phalaicha, Yasok and Rabi were damaged. The displaced are taking shelter in houses of their relatives and neighbours and in school buildings.
Police said more than 400 people in the district reported property damage. Landslides triggered by the quake blocked the Panchthar-Phidim section of Mechi Highway.
More than 500 families were displaced and around 1,000 houses partially damaged in Ilam, according to an estimate of District Admini-stration Office. The earthquake ravaged places in eastern and northern parts of the district.
More than 200 houses were damaged in Maimajhuwa VDC. Scores of families were displaced in Mabu, Chamaita, Jamuna, Pyang, Phakphok, Laxmipur, Naya Bazaar, Kanyam, Sumbek, Sulubung, Ektappa, Fikkal, Shree Antu, Pashupatinagar and Gorkhe VDCs. Electricity and water supply were also cut off in different parts of Ilam.
In Tehrathum, initial reports said the earthquake damaged more than 100 houses. The District Court building and the District Police Office were also damaged.
In Sindhupalchowk district, more than 60 houses were damaged. The earthquake also damaged property in more than six VDCs in Solukhumbu district. Some government office buildings were also damaged there. Police said there were no casualties in the district.
In Sankhuwasabha, the tremor destroyed 16 houses and damaged six government office buildings. Reports about property and infrastructure damage were also received from districts like Dhankuta, Khotang, Sindhuli, Jhapa and Bara.
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SEISMIC RETROFITTING A MUST TO SAVE LIVES
Kathmandu, 20 Sept.: Sunday’s earthquake was the strongest to hit the country since 1934. However, the damage and casualties the country witnessed were exceptionally low. A tremor measuring 6.8 on the Richter scale would have otherwise left a trail of destruction in the City that is ranked among the most vulnerable to earthquakes. The Kathmandu Post reports.
One of the reasons for the low impact in Kathmandu was the distance from the epicentre. However, if a quake of similar magnitude were to strike with the epicentre nearer to the Capital, the consequences might be far different. Structural damage will account for the high number of casualties in the city, according to Amrit Man Tuladhar, a senior divisional engineer formerly associated with the Department of Urban Planning. “The way we construct buildings has to change if we are to stay safe. We must not only rely on advertisements of steel rods and cements. Improvement of the existing buildings by applying the retrofitting strategy and complying with the National Building Code (NBC) will minimise the loss of lives,” he said.
According to a JICA report of 2002, if a magnitude 8 earthquake strikes, 21 percent of the buildings could be heavily damaged and kill 1.3 percent of the total population, while also leaving 3.8 percent of the population seriously injured.
According to Amod Mani Dixit, the executive director of Nepal Society for Earthquake Technology (NSET), if a quake like the one in 1934 were to strike the Capital, around 60 percent of the buildings would suffer heavy damage. A majority of the buildings that will be destroyed will be the old un-reinforced masonary ones that lack engineering to resist the earthquakes.
More than 40,000 deaths and 95,000 injuries are expected in the Valley if a major quake is to hit, he added.
Sagar Krishna Joshi, the national programme manager of Earthquake Risk Reduction and Recovery and Preparedness Programme for Nepal, said the retrofitting strategy refers to any option of increasing the strength, stiffness and ductility of parts or the whole building. It is an advanced process that requires a higher level of expertise than that required to design or construct a new building.
“It is of utmost importance to identify those buildings that are at high risk and carry out reconstruction or seismic retrofitting,” he said.
According to him, the concept of retrofitting masonry starts from enhancing integrity to the structure by providing connections between its resisting elements in such way that the inertia generated by the vibration of the building can be transmitted to all the parts of the building that have the ability to resist. Typical important aspects are connections—between components of floors and the roof, between the roof and the floors and the walls, between intersecting walls, and between the walls and the foundation.
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