Heed Quake Reminder

Nepal is no stranger to earthquakes as it lies in a seismically active zone. For many Nepalis, they are always lurking deep in the Earth to catch them unaware. The 6.1-magnitude earthquake that shook people in Kathmandu and surrounding districts from their sleep on Friday night is the latest in a series of earthquakes jolting various parts of Nepal, especially the western region. The quake, which had its epicentre in the Sindhupalchowk district, was said to be an aftershock of the 7.6-magnitude Gorkha earthquake of 2015 by seismologists. It was powerful enough to shake even some parts of India.  They have, however, said that it doesn't signal that the big one is coming anytime soon. Though these words allayed fears, they mustn't lull us into complacency. 

What happens when we fail to learn the lessons from one catastrophic earthquake by not adequately preparing against the new one was shown by the earthquake that rattled the districts of Jajarkot and Rukum West on November 3, 2023. Though the 6.4-magnitude earthquake was moderately strong, the casualties it inflicted were colossal. Hundreds died, and even more were injured. Many endured the biting cold in tents, with dozens succumbing to it. The government quickly leapt into action to provide for the victims and promised that they would be housed in a decent temporary shelter built by it. Billions of rupees were also released to that end. 

However, more than a year later, many continue to languish in makeshift shelters due to construction delays. It affected the lives of hundreds of thousands, including some 80,000 children. The plight of the vulnerable population – children, the elderly, new and expectant mothers, and those with pre-existing medical conditions – was palpable everywhere across the affected area.  What's more, educational activities came to a standstill, with traumatised students staying away from schools for months for fear that a new one will crush them inside classrooms. And what about the unfathomable misery of the survivors who have lost their loved ones or those left with life-threatening injuries?     

Indeed, the cost of an earthquake can be too much to pay for an ill-prepared country. Galvanised by the monumental loss of lives and structures in the 2015 earthquake, the government, in its wake, enacted new guidelines to be followed while building new houses. Many newly built structures in the worst affected districts have duly complied with them.  But one 2022 study found that many houses built in the western region flouted the government-mandated guidelines. This has been happening in the very region where, according to seismologists, a devastating earthquake is long overdue. When a 6.1-magnitude quake hit Doti district in November 2022, six persons died. One died in Bajura in a 5.6-magnitude earthquake in January 2023. The two earthquakes also destroyed or damaged tens of thousands of houses. Even the so-called quake-resistant houses were found to have suffered significant damage. 

"Earthquakes don't kill; buildings do," goes the saying. Building houses in breach of the guidelines is a recipe for disaster. To stave off the suffering an earthquake can inflict, the government must take measures to ensure that every house built in an earthquake-prone region respects the seismically quake-resistant building code. It must show no reluctance to dismantle structures too weak to withstand a relatively strong quake if doing that means keeping citizens safe from a quake.