Miraculous escape for people in a municipality at epicentre of Nepal’s quake


PTI, Nov 5, 2023, 11:40 AM IST

A municipality in the epicentre of Friday’s deadly earthquake in Nepal’s Jajarkot district reported no death from the tremor even though at least 157 people were killed in other parts of the district and neighbouring Rukum West, according to a media report on Sunday.

According to the National Earthquake Monitoring and Research Centre, a 6.4 magnitude earthquake with epicentre at the Ramidanda village in Barekot Rural Municipality jolted the country on Friday just before midnight.

Despite massive physical damage to the houses and public infrastructure, the rural municipality entirely avoided human causality as of Saturday evening, the Kathmandu Post newspaper reported.

“When we see the badly damaged houses, it is difficult to believe how we all cheated death in the area,” said Bir Bahadur Giri, chairperson of the rural municipality. “It is a divine land, and many people believe god saved them.” According to him, five people in the rural municipality were injured. Of them, two received treatment at the local health office while three were flown to a Surkhet-based hospital, the paper reported.

The rural municipality has around 3,500 houses.

“There is hardly any house undamaged by the earthquake. At least 90 per cent of them need to be rebuilt while around 1,000 houses have been badly hit and people have been staying in open spaces,” said Giri.

The District Administration Office (DAO), Jajarkot, confirmed that there were no deaths in Barekot Rural Municipality.

According to the details posted by the District Administration Office on Facebook on Saturday evening, as many as 105 people died in the Jajarkot district.

Of them, 55 were killed in Nalgaad Municipality, 42 people lost their lives in Bheri Municipality, seven in Kushe Rural Municipality and one in Chhedagad Municipality.

The DAO has not reported the death of any person at Barekot Rural Municipality, the epicentre of the devastating earthquake, the paper said.

Giri himself escaped death even as a wall of his house crumbled due to the tremor. “Not only me, many others are sharing similar experiences,” he said.

One reason for the lack of casualties at Ramidanda village could be a sparse settlement.

“Nobody was dead [even] in the Silpachaur area nearby that is more densely populated despite massive damage to the houses,” said Dinayat Gharti, chief administrative officer at the rural municipality.

According to experts, the epicentre does not necessarily sustain more physical damage than other locations.

“But it is rare and even miraculous for the epicentre to avoid any human causality in a big quake is rare and miraculous,” said Amod Mani Dixit, president of the National Society for Earthquake Technology-Nepal (NSET), an institution formed by Nepali professionals working in the field of disaster risk management.

According to him, the scale of the damage depends on where the fault line is and whether the houses are strong enough to withstand the jolts.

Udayavani is now on Telegram. Click here to join our channel and stay updated with the latest news.

Top News

Unauthorized bus stops at signals fuel traffic woes and safety concerns

SC notice to Karnataka, DK Shivakumar on CBI plea against withdrawal of consent by state govt

Will remain active in politics till my last breath: JD(S) patriarch & ex-PM Deve Gowda

BJP calls Congress govt ‘laughing stock’ as ‘samosa politics’ heats up in Himachal

Chikkaballapur: Yoga teacher feigns death by holding her breath, escapes murder bid

World Bunts Summit to be held in Mumbai on December 7

SC dismisses PIL seeking CBI probe into Tirupati laddus row

Related Articles More

No greater feeling than serving those in need: Outgoing CJI D Y Chandrachud

CJI Chandrachud: A legacy of landmark verdicts that shaped society and some controversy too

Akhilesh Yadav attacks BJP on demonetisation anniversary

DeMo paved way for monopolies by devastating MSMEs, informal sector: Rahul on note ban anniversary

Comply with order allowing minority student to attend St Stephen’s College: HC tells DU

MUST WATCH

Gho Pooja in Deepavali Festival

Melukote Deepavali

Ganapathi Co-operative Society Ltd

Udayavani Chinnara Banna 2024

Annapoorna Aahar | Food Places In Mysore


Latest Additions

Unauthorized bus stops at signals fuel traffic woes and safety concerns

No greater feeling than serving those in need: Outgoing CJI D Y Chandrachud

Baikampady: Here, even elederly have to crawl under trains to cross tracks!

CJI Chandrachud: A legacy of landmark verdicts that shaped society and some controversy too

Neeraj Chopra to head to South Africa for off-season training later this month

Thanks for visiting Udayavani

You seem to have an Ad Blocker on.
To continue reading, please turn it off or whitelist Udayavani.