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Thousands in fear after quake
Source: Agencies |
September 21, 2011, Wednesday
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Thousands of terrified survivors of a Himalayan earthquake that killed at least 81 people and shook parts of India, Nepal and China crowded into shelters and relatives' homes yesterday, or just stayed out in the open for fear of aftershocks.
Soldiers used dynamite and earthmovers to clear landslides on roads in the steep valleys linking the worst-hit northeastern Indian state of Sikkim to the rest of India. They managed to clear a path to Mangan, the town closest to the epicenter of Sunday's 6.9-magnitude quake, but many other communities remained cut off and authorities fear the death toll could rise once rescuers reach them.
Indian army helicopters ferried rescuers and dropped food and supplies to still-inaccessible villages in Sikkim, a sparsely populated and almost entirely mountainous region.
Residents of the state, which borders Nepal, Bangladesh, Bhutan and China's Tibet Autonomous Region, have been spooked by at least five aftershocks since Sunday, with the strongest a magnitude 5.3.
Residents of Mangan spent a second day in the open, too panicky to stay in their badly damaged homes, a police official said.
A 300-year-old Buddhist monastery was severely damaged but the monks escaped unhurt, said head monk Pema Dorjee.
"We had just finished evening prayers when we were totally shaken by the earthquake. It's a miracle that none of us were injured," he said.
Military helicopters made dozens of trips to drop food to residents and airlift the seriously injured to hospitals.
Dawa Lendup Lepcha, 25, a university student in Gangtok, Sikkim's capital, said that even though the room he rents was not badly damaged, he was too nervous to stay alone and moved in with a cousin. "Even now we feel scared. If a car makes a loud sound or there is some other sudden noise I feel very scared," he said.
Thousands of others moved out of their homes in Gangtok and neighboring villages and took shelter in the open grounds of a university building and a soccer stadium. Many were sleeping outside, huddling under blankets to ward off the cool air.
Nighttime temperatures have been about 17 degrees Celsius.
By late yesterday a few villagers with badly injured relatives had begun to arrive at Gangtok's main hospital.
Thurba Singh Sherpa walked for nine hours carrying his 6-year-old son, who was injured when a large boulder fell on the jeep he was traveling in.
Two other children died on the spot and two others, more critically injured, were airlifted by helicopters, Sherpa said.
Soldiers used dynamite and earthmovers to clear landslides on roads in the steep valleys linking the worst-hit northeastern Indian state of Sikkim to the rest of India. They managed to clear a path to Mangan, the town closest to the epicenter of Sunday's 6.9-magnitude quake, but many other communities remained cut off and authorities fear the death toll could rise once rescuers reach them.
Indian army helicopters ferried rescuers and dropped food and supplies to still-inaccessible villages in Sikkim, a sparsely populated and almost entirely mountainous region.
Residents of the state, which borders Nepal, Bangladesh, Bhutan and China's Tibet Autonomous Region, have been spooked by at least five aftershocks since Sunday, with the strongest a magnitude 5.3.
Residents of Mangan spent a second day in the open, too panicky to stay in their badly damaged homes, a police official said.
A 300-year-old Buddhist monastery was severely damaged but the monks escaped unhurt, said head monk Pema Dorjee.
"We had just finished evening prayers when we were totally shaken by the earthquake. It's a miracle that none of us were injured," he said.
Military helicopters made dozens of trips to drop food to residents and airlift the seriously injured to hospitals.
Dawa Lendup Lepcha, 25, a university student in Gangtok, Sikkim's capital, said that even though the room he rents was not badly damaged, he was too nervous to stay alone and moved in with a cousin. "Even now we feel scared. If a car makes a loud sound or there is some other sudden noise I feel very scared," he said.
Thousands of others moved out of their homes in Gangtok and neighboring villages and took shelter in the open grounds of a university building and a soccer stadium. Many were sleeping outside, huddling under blankets to ward off the cool air.
Nighttime temperatures have been about 17 degrees Celsius.
By late yesterday a few villagers with badly injured relatives had begun to arrive at Gangtok's main hospital.
Thurba Singh Sherpa walked for nine hours carrying his 6-year-old son, who was injured when a large boulder fell on the jeep he was traveling in.
Two other children died on the spot and two others, more critically injured, were airlifted by helicopters, Sherpa said.
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