World Vision is responding to a powerful 7.9 earthquake

World Vision responds as hundreds feared dead in powerful earthquake that struck Nepal early Saturday.  

Buildings and walls across Kathmandu have collapsed and hundreds of people have been killed and injured.  

“Many people are too frightened to go into the buildings due to fear they will collapse with after shocks.“ says Liz Satow, World Vision Country director for Nepal. “People are very worried and have feared the big quake for a long time.”

The epicentre of the quake struck is near Lamjung, about 180 km from Kathmandu, where World Vision has a project. Telecom connections are sketchy.

Sunjuli Kunwar, a communications specialist for World Vision Nepal, who was at a sporting event with Ms. Satow when the quake hit says, “The whole stadium was moving; people started to rush out and couldn’t control their movements. Many fell and hurt themselves.” 

World Vision staff, who were preparing to depart Kathmandu this morning, are reporting chaos. Flights are being cancelled as incoming flights are not able to land.   

“We felt a massive shaking at the airport,” says Abid Gulzar, World Vision’s East Asia Regional Director of Advocacy and Justice for Children.  “It’s a very chaotic situation right now with flights being cancelled.” 

Philip Ewert, World Vision Nepal’s Operation Director says, “Infrastructure is down all over city. The power is out with limited internet access. It just goes to show the vulnerability of Kathmandu to earthquakes such as this one.

“Walls and water tanks are damaged and things have toppled over. We are getting reports that people are trapped in temples and larger areas as there was a large festival on today.

“We’re now just trying to ride out all the aftershocks,” says Mr. Ewert.

World Vision has been working in districts across Nepal with local authorities to identify disaster risks and help communities prepare for the worst.  There has been a special focus on keeping schools safe from natural hazards like landslides, flooding and quakes.

World Vision also works with other agencies to improve disaster risk reduction by working with networks of children to give them a voice on disaster risk reduction and influence government policies to improve safety. World Vision is the lead agency in Disaster Management and Climate Change Adaptation task group.

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