Magnitude-7.8 earthquake strikes Nepal, affects Davis students

By Kellen Browning
Bluedevilhub.com Editor—

A devastating earthquake hit the country of Nepal on Friday, April 24. According to CNN.com, the death toll has risen to 3,218, including 3 U.S. citizens.

A number of Davis High students are Nepalese and have contacted relatives in Nepal to ensure that they’re safe.

Junior Nimesh Poudel’s relatives live in the capital, Kathmandu.

“I’ve been able to get into contact with them and thankfully they’re all okay and fine,” he said. “They say it’s just devastating, and that there’s damage everywhere. […] People are sleeping outside because they’re scared of all the aftershocks that have been happening.”

Junior Sheela Thoreson’s relatives are some of the many residents forced to camp outside due to the aftershocks Her family is unharmed, but Thoreson says that another effect of the earthquake was the loss of culture that occurred.

“[…] What got hit hard in Kathmandu was the older section of the city, with like the temples and stuff. So for example, my mom has wanted to go to the top of this one famous tower for her whole life and never got around to it, and it collapsed in the earthquake,” Thoreson said.

Thoreson says that the Nepali government was unprepared for a natural disaster like this one.

“They just didn’t really have a very good pre-set plan for something like this because the government has been embroiled in a lot of internal stuff and although they knew there was a big risk, they just never did anything to create a solid plan about what they’d do in a situation like this […]” she said.

Sophomore Arzoo Manandhar had a difficult time contacting her Nepalese relatives.

“My parents were up all night calling them and sometimes the phone went through. We didn’t really get to get in touch with everyone but we’ve heard from most of them that everyone is okay; they just can’t go in the house,” Manandhar said.

“They said it was just really scary. It just happened sort of out of the blue and they didn’t think it’d be that big. They’re just all thankful that everyone’s okay because they know of people that have died in the quake,” she added