The Earthquake

On Saturday April 25th, 2015, just before noon, a devastating earthquake hit Nepal. It was the worst earthquake to hit the country since 1934, measured as 7.8 on the Richter scale. Luckily it happened during daytime and on a Saturday, so schools were closed any many people were outside. Still, the damage of the earthquake was immense: Over 8000 people died in the disaster, more than 500 thousand houses were destroyed, entire villages were swept away in the resulting landslides – more than half of Nepal was affected by the disaster.

In the center of Kathmandu, several famous centuries old temples were reduced to rubble. Many houses partially or completely collapsed, making millions of people homeless. Those whose houses survived the earthquake were too scared to stay inside: People slept outside in the following days – too afraid for another aftershock that could damage whatever was left standing.