Disastrous events in very poor and politically paralyzed nations such as Nepal often become
a long drawn out chain of events, in that one disaster feeds into another for years or even decades on end. The aftereffects of the earthquake had subsequent effects on a myriad of things:
human trafficking,
labour cost and availability, rental and property cost burdens,
urbanization, private and public debt burdens, mental health, politics,
tourism, disease, and damage to the healthcare system. A survey some 30 months later found only 12% of the reconstruction money had been distributed, and those without land were locked out of financial support, exacerbating the social divide and feeding marginalization.
More direct effects Some disasters that came with the
monsoon season were suspected to be related to the earthquake. There was a landslip on 11 June, killing 53 people. Meanwhile, a glacial lake had burst in the particularly hard-hit Solukhumbhu district. Whether or not the quake contributed to such events is often unknown and unresearched, but it is certainly possible.
Casualties Nepal The earthquake killed at least 8,857 people in Nepal and injured nearly three times as many. The rural death toll may have been minimized by the fact that most villagers were outdoors working when the quake hit. As of 15 May, 6,271 people, including 1,700 from the 12 May aftershock, were still receiving treatment for their injuries. Nearly 3.5 million people were left homeless, causing around 2.6 million
internal displacements.
The Himalayan Times reported that as many as 20,000 foreign nationals may have been visiting Nepal at the time of the earthquake, although reports of foreign deaths were relatively low.
India A total of 78 deaths were reported in India – including 58 in Bihar, 16 in Uttar Pradesh, 3 in West Bengal and 1 in Rajasthan. with at least 120 others injured or missing. and the
village of Langtang. The avalanche was estimated to have been two to three kilometres wide. Ghodatabela was an area popular on the Langtang trekking route. The village of Langtang was destroyed by the avalanche. Smaller settlements on the outskirts of Langtang were buried during the earthquake, such as Chyamki, Thangsyap, and Mundu. Twelve locals and two foreigners were believed to have survived. Smaller
landslides occurred in the
Trishuli River Valley with reports of significant damage at Mailung, Simle, and
Archale. On 4 May it was announced that 52 bodies had been found in the Langtang area, of which seven were bodies of foreigners. According to geological models, the frequency and intensity of future landslides in the Langtang Valley is due to increase in the coming decades. This is attributable directly to the effect of the earthquake, which caused widespread fracturing in the grounds of the Langtang area.
Damage Square Thousands of houses were destroyed across many districts of the country, with entire villages flattened, especially those near the epicenter. The
Tribhuvan International Airport serving Kathmandu was closed immediately after the earthquake, but was re-opened later in the day for relief operations and, later, for some commercial flights. It subsequently shut down operations sporadically due to aftershocks, and on 3 May was closed temporarily to the largest planes for fear of runway damage. During strong aftershocks, the airport opened all boarding-lounge exit doors onto the tarmac, allowing people who were waiting post security and immigration to flee to the open spaces of the runway tarmac. Many remained outside as planes were delayed and the airport swelled to capacity. The airport facilities suffered damage and there was no running water or operating toilets in the airport lounges. Few airport workers were at their posts; most were killed in the earthquake or had to deal with its aftereffects. Flights resumed from Pokhara, to the west of the epicentre, on 27 April. before the earthquake Several of the churches in the Kathmandu valley were destroyed. As Saturday is the principal day of Christian worship in Nepal, 500 people were reported to have died in the collapses. Several
temples on
Kathmandu Durbar Square, a
UNESCO World Heritage Site, collapsed,
Manakamana Temple in Gorkha, previously damaged in an earlier quake, tilted several inches further. The northern side of
Janaki Mandir in
Janakpur was reported to have been damaged. Several temples, including
Kasthamandap, Panchtale temple, the top levels of the nine-story Basantapur Durbar, the Dasa Avtar temple and two shrines located behind the Shiva Parvati temple were demolished by the quake. Some other monuments including the Taleju Bhawani Temple partially collapsed. The top of the Jaya Bageshwari Temple in Gaushala and some parts of the
Pashupatinath Temple,
Swyambhunath,
Boudhanath Stupa,
Ratna Mandir, inside Rani Pokhari, and
Durbar High School have been destroyed. In Patan, the Char Narayan Mandir, the statue of Yog Narendra Malla, a pati inside Patan Durbar Square, the Taleju Temple, the Hari Shankar, Uma Maheshwar Temple and the Machhindranath Temple in Bungamati were destroyed. In Tripureshwar, the Kal Mochan Ghat, a temple inspired by Mughal architecture, was completely destroyed and the nearby Tripura Sundari also suffered significant damage. In Bhaktapur, several monuments, including the Phasi Deva temple, the Chardham temple and the 17th century Vatsala Durga Temple were fully or partially destroyed. Nepal, with a total Gross Domestic Product of US$19.921 billion (according to a 2012 estimate), is one of Asia's poorest countries, and has little ability to fund a major reconstruction effort on its own. Even before the quake, the
Asian Development Bank estimated that it would need to spend about four times more than it currently does annually on infrastructure through to 2020 to attract investment. More recent studies estimate the damage from the earthquake to be closer to US$10 billion (which would be around 50% of Nepals GDP at the time).
Social effects It was reported that the survivors were preyed upon by human traffickers involved in the supply of girls and women to the brothels of South Asia. These traffickers took advantage of the chaos that resulted from the aftermath of the earthquake. The most affected were women from poor communities who lost their homes. In response to the unsafe conditions of the temporary campsites, international organizations implemented Safety Committees which were provided cash grants for necessities like additional toilets and bathrooms.
Most affected Single women had very little access to relief, according to a report by the Inter-party Women's Alliance (IPWA). The report also found that violence and rapes against women and minors have increased after the earthquake. Additionally, the earthquake has significantly affected certain groups of people. Tibeto-Burman peoples were hardest hit as they tend to inhabit the higher slopes of mountains as opposed to the central valleys and are less educated and connected. All of these factors make them harder to access. According to a government survey, malnutrition in children has worsened considerably some 3 months after the quake, with the most undernourished being
Tamang and
Chepang peoples. Before the quake, 41 percent of children under five were stunted, 29 percent were underweight and 11 percent were emaciated, according to the World Food Programme. The mental and emotional impact of an earthquake is the other invisible disaster. Medical Doctors from India, Ramachandra Kamath, Edmond Fernandes and Prakash Narayan stated that elderly care in disaster was more important than women and child focused one for Nepal earthquake and absence of military support for medical aid providers impacted relief work. ==Rescue and relief==