Dream Girl

Earthquake hits Nepal; thrilling experience

Sunday 6:25 PM water inside a bottle on my dining table shook as if there was a storm in the water bottle and suddenly I started feeling uneasy. It didn’t take me more than a second to understand that my city has been hit by the, much expected but unprepared for, earthquake. I told my mom; who was preparing food for me in the kitchen, there’s an earthquake. She got terrified and started yelling. I tried to calm her down saying it has stopped but before I finished my sentence it started shaking again. Both of us ran down to the living room as it is unsafe to stand on the stairs during the quake. But the tremor continued for few seconds more.

Terrified by the quake, people were running through the narrow trail between tall buildings, in search of safe place. Call it lack of practice or ignorance they undermined the basic precautionary measure that the first place to take refuse during the quake is under the beam of the construction, under the tables and beds.  After the quake stopped I hung my mobile charger against the wall so that it would give me indication should there be any aftershocks.

Then I switched on my TV to get the updates about the quake. But the news channel didn’t have much information to share, except that the country has been hit by the quake. But I was curious to know about the epicenter and its magnitude. Suddenly, what struck my mind that I switched channels to CNN and BBC. They didn’t have any information either. Then I switched to Indian news channels. In those channels there were the news flashing that many Indian cities close to Nepal like Delhi, UP, Bihar, Sikkim have also been hit by quake. It was not difficult to predict that the epicenter was nearby.

As the time passed by, news channels started updating the about the quake. The epicenter of the quake was at the boarder between Taplegunj in Nepal and Sikkim. At that time channels informed that the quake measured 6.8 in the richter scale and the quake lasted for 5- 10 seconds, which was quite untrue. The quake had lasted atleast for over one minute or nearly about two minutes, we all felt it. According to one Indian news channel the quake was about 10 kms below the earth crust while the another said it was 20.7 Kms below the ground. Later it was declared that the quake was 6.9 on the richter scale. Although my mobile charger didn’t indicate any aftershocks the department of seismic study confirmed that there were atleast 14 aftershocks. But those were to low in magnitude which is why my primitive measure couldn’t respond to it.

Nepalese media then started informing that eastern region of Nepal have been severely jolted by the quake and much of it could be felt in the central region where capital city Kathmandu is located. The effect decreased as it moved west ward.  

However, damage was done in eastern region as well as central region. It tolled 2 lives and demolished dozens of houses in the eastern region while three people lost lives in Lazimpat, heart of the capital city as the boundary wall of British Embassy fell down and banged upon the passing by vehicles.    

Wishfully, there won’t be any addition in the casualty and collateral damage due to the quake the next day. But it should be considered sheer luck if it happens because, although Nepal has been identified as the 11^th most vulnerable country to earthquake, the seriousness hasn’t been seen from any quarters as yet especially when it comes to construction of buildings and other infrastructure. There are hundreds and thousands of building which have been constructed without following even the basic construction standards. But what is more alarming is it is still rampant and the authorities here are not doing anything about it.

Coincidently, the quake has hit the country during the Biswokarma puja, the Hindu god of construction. But it is for certain that performing puja of Biswokarma won’t help if the basic standards of the construction are not followed.

It’s high time the authorities and construction stakeholders realize that it is not the earthquake that kills. Rather it is the infrastructures built against the basic construction standards that take the lives of the owners as well as others.  

Elegy

It doesn't matter if they call it an elegos (elegy)

when i give words to my sorrows.

It hurts only when 

people applaud.

Mysterious Girl

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