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YESTERDAY SAW A second earthquake hit Nepal, just two weeks after the first that devastated the country and killed more than 8,000 people.
Tremors measured more than 7.3 in magnitude and officials in the country said yesterday that 36 people were thought to have been killed, as well as 17 more across the border in northern India.
The initial earthquake was followed minutes later by another 5.6-magnitude aftershock, according to the US Geological Survey.
On the ground
TheJournal.ie spoke to Colm Byrne, Humanitarian Manager with Oxfam Ireland, who is on the ground in Nepal, about what happened when the earthquake hit.
“We were sitting in a car at around lunchtime today in the middle of the town of Chautara, which is in the middle of the area that was most affected by the earthquake two weeks ago. We were sitting in the car when it started to shake and I immediately assumed that the driver had put his foot on the accelerator and had forgotten to take off the handbrake,” he said.
The car started to shake and it started to shake more and more and immediately I realised that people were screaming and starting to run. We all realised quickly that this was an earthquake and it was sheer pandemonium everywhere.
Monsoon season
The damage caused by the earthquakes is compounded by the forthcoming monsoon season. Agencies like Oxfam face a race against time to provide aid to areas that need it.
The biggest concern I think that we have looking forward is that we not only just respond to the here and now, but also that we look at what will happen in a few weeks’ time.
The forthcoming monsoons have the potential to cause widespread disruption.
“If there has been more seismic activity then there will be more soil that has been moved, and the more likelihood that there will be landslides. And you combine that with heavy rainfall, there will be serious problems in terms of access to roads being cut off,” Byrne explains.
Sleeping outside
With the potential danger of buildings collapsing, many of those in affected areas will be deciding to sleep outside tonight. However, in a mountainous country like Nepal, the difficulty of doing this is compounded.
“Sleeping outside in Nepal is a big problem because there isn’t actually that much room to do so. Tonight all of our team is sleeping on a dry riverbed. Not the ideal place but nobody wants to sleep inside,” says Byrne.
There are no large, flat open spaces where people can convene. In many cases people were living in shelters right next to their homes, the homes that had been destroyed.
Other agencies
Other groups that are operating on the ground in Nepal include Médecins Sans Frontiéres (MSF) and Irish NGO Concern.
Speaking about yesterday’s earthquake, Kieran McConville, a Concern emergency response team member, said, “There have been five big new earthquakes and several aftershocks in the last few hours. Right now, we’re surrounded by landslides limiting our ability to move around.”
Individuals can contribute to Oxfam’s emergency earthquake appeal through their website here.
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A sky news journalist was fired upon in Ukraine and it made international headlines for a few day after the event, and rightly so. I wonder will the cold blooded murder of a journalist by the iof make the same waves internationally.
We need sanctions against the israhelli regime now. The israhelli regime can not be allowed to continue with the murder and ethnic cleasing of Palestinians. #BDS
@Eamonn Connaghan: “They are b&stards, but our b&stards”, to misquote certain American president.
@Eamonn Connaghan: this sad and tragic murder is receiving a lot of coverage this morning, RTÉ sky 24 BBC 24 and CNN
@George Demo: Yes but in a lot of those cases they are not specifying that it was Israeli fire that killed her.
@Eamonn Connaghan: iof, clever, proper name for them really.
@Zmeevo Libe: Don’t put all your eggs into the one b@stard.
@Eamonn Connaghan: you guys know well that the journalist was caught in the cross fire of the two warring factions.. But you love any chance to demonise israel as does the irish media.. Regardless of the facts..
@Victor Feldman: She was a thorn isn the side of the Israelis for her reporting. She had been previously arrested by them on many occasions.
According to other journalists in the area she and the other journalists had reported to the Israelis that they were covering the story and were on site. They were wearing the PRESS jackets and helmets. According to witnesses the journalists were well away from any conflict between the 2 sides. Yet you know well that it was crossfire. Have you given your report to the UN or Amnesty or any other international organisation? Probably not as they are all corrupt and biased against Israel aren’t they? I wonder why…..
Israel lost the plot decade’s ago and worse they’re getting. Their policy to the Palestinians and the actions of the IDF are shameful. Next comes the slick and sickly PR with obfuscation and conciliatory tones. They just don’t get it. Lots of nukes and a big army won’t prevent them from reeping the harvest they sow with caleous disregard. May Ms Abu Akleh rest in peace.
This brave women was assassinated by occupying forces. Her crime, being both a journalist and Palestinian.
Yet again evidence of Israeli justice. No trail, no charges just a bullet fired into her brain. Other journalist were also injured so this was a targeted assassination. Even those who tried to recover her remains came under fire. Preventing any medical help reaching her.
May she rest in peace.
They rarely justify these killings but this journal…ist was wearing a flak jacket with PRESS on it. The Israeli sniper knew how to aim his American rifle.
@Bramley Hawthorne: proof please
There are no Israeli “security forces” in the Occupied West Bank, there are only Israeli armed forces brutally occupying it, like Putin’s forces in Ukraine
The Israeli army/paramilitaries kill about two or three Palestinians every week.
I wonder what their ‘investigation’ will conclude. Will they release the body cam footage?
@Watchful Axe: I doubt body cam footage will show anything, wasn’t it a sniper.
@Watchful Axe: Palestine have her body and won’t join a joint investigation
I wonder why
@Kieron Meehan: havent been asked to! Autopsy is being carried out
‘The sad death…’ should that not read ‘murder’? Why repeat the euphemism?
Excuse disjointed comment but I was being flagged as ‘toxic’ every second word.
Absolutely disgraceful attitude from the US. When asked whether the US would support an international investigation, US Department of State spokesman Ned Price said: “Israel has the wherewithal to conduct a thorough investigation”.
@Fr. Fintan Stack: Never mind about this, it’ll be forgot about in a day or two, just make sure you have a Ukrainian flag in your bio. Or else.
Is Israeli Jews believe in God, do they really think he’d be fine with how they carry on? They base their aggression on an idea that Jesus gave them that land and it’s rightly theirs. But do they think they’d meet Jesus in heaven and his position would be “it’s fine to shoot innocent people if it’s to do with property and land ownership. In that instance my son, of course you may kill”
@Rob Gale: The god of the bible was fond of a lot of smiting and slaughter so I’d say they’d be grand once they get up there.
@Rob Gale: buddie.. The Jewish religion does not believe in jesus. At that period the Jewish people had been around for a couple of thousand years.
Has anything been proved
Palestine won’t join a joint investigation
Why?
@Kieron Meehan: Israel won’t agree to an independent international investigation. I wonder why.
@Kieron Meehan: strange that you spit out the same nonsense a couple of times on the comments when it clearly stated in the article Israel haven’t contacted the palestinians
@Fr. Fintan Stack: it won’t agree to an international investigation because there are countries like Ireland who viscerally dislike Israel.
have your say