Kathmandu and 7.8 Earthquake

Sunday, April 26, 2015

The first night after the earthquake was long and sleep wasn’t easy to get. I remember one particularly alarming aftershock in the early hours of the morning that felt like a bomb going off. If you have ever lived near a train yard, you know the sound of trains being assembled and the reverberating sound when they connect one section of train cars into another by ramming them together. That’s what this was like, a sudden lurch, a sound like a bomb, and then silence as the sound echoed throughout the city of Kathmandu. Once again I had that sensation and realization that as far as I could imagine, the whole earth had jumped sideways! When it happened, all of the Nepalis jumped up and began talking loudly, in half panic. I remember someone speaking up above the noise, telling them to be calm, and they slowly settled back down again.

It seemed to me that daylight would never come again, and I couldn’t wait for that. I was tired, but laying around trying to sleep was driving me crazy. I was thankful when it finally did start to become light, and I was up and ready to go back to the guesthouse by 6:00 am. The aftershocks were slowly getting further apart, and decreasing in magnitude. That was a hopeful indication that the fault line was stabilizing again, though we had no real assurance of that at the time. Back at the guesthouse we went about assessing damage and collecting ourselves. I remember one younger worker simply wasn’t going to move back in, and moved a couple chairs outside to sleep on. The picture shows a smiling face, but she was serious. Throughout this ordeal one of the things that struck me about these Nepali Christians was how they could smile in even the worst of times.

Later when I compared the amount of lateral movement during the quake (3-4 meters) to the number of years the fault had been locked, multiplied by the distance the plates are moving per year, I estimated they were about the same distance. To me this indicated that the potential energy had been released – we should have no more large earthquakes here for a while. Precisely 80 years to be exact, in Nepal. This fault is the most regular and predicable on the planet! It erupts about every 80 years. In the coming weeks geologists would study the fault line and determine that only one section of it had released, which is a good news/bad news report. The good news is that if it had all gone at once it could have been a magnitude or two higher; the bad news is that western Nepal is still due for a similarly large earthquake.

Whenever the internet was up we would collect what information we could find on the earthquake and relief efforts. Someone bought a paper and we got some information from that. Eventually we heard a jet land at the airport, which gave me some hope that my flight at 11:15 pm might be able to make it in and back out. But as far as getting any real indication from someone… that wasn’t going to happen. Phones were working, but no one was answering in most cases. The US embassy wasn’t much help, nor was the airport itself. I was able to check in with Nora a little via internet but that was spotty. I knew her group was safe in Pokhara though. The bigger Concern was about aid flights getting in to Nepal. If KTM was shut down that would be a real problem because it’s the only international airport. It had been shut down for four days in March of 2015 when a Turkish jet ran off the runway and it took international support from India to get the airport reopened.

Reports began coming in about various buildings and shrines that had collapsed, mostly old ones. We saw pictures in the paper of some of them. I decided to walkabout and see what things were like near us. I saw many buildings that were partially destroyed, people living in the streets and some in buildings, but every time there was another aftershock they would jump up and move to the center of the road again. I found an open grocery mart and went inside. I came out with a 2-for-1 special on ice cream bars, and ate them both! Comfort food…?

At one point there was a large group in the middle of the street around an older woman who appeared to be unconscious. They didn’t look like they knew what they were doing so I circled around trying assess what was going – whether she was hurt or had merely fainted. In a moment an ambulance showed up, which amounted to a minivan with stickers on it, and two men grabbed her by the legs and shoulders and literally tossed her into the van! The ambulance then sped away. It would have been comedic under other circumstances.

A little further along another aftershock hit, and a building near me partially collapsed. I had my phone in hand and flipped on the video. Even though the shaking has just stopped, you can see things swinging. Everything moving in the clip below (trees, wires, birds) is because of the aftershock, there was no wind blowing. It gives you some idea of the amount of movement even an aftershock caused.

By mid afternoon we had heard many planes land and take off, so I decided to go to the airport at 4:30 pm and wait there for my 11:15 pm flight. I had my doubts because we had heard that one of the problems was that with each aftershock the employees would run outside and refuse to come back inside. I said my good-byes, not knowing if I would be back later or get a flight out, walked my baggage a few blocks to Jawalakhel Chowk and flagged a taxi.

Everywhere we drove I saw people milling about in the streets. When we neared the airport, about a mile or less from it, I saw a line… hundreds, maybe two thousand people, literally lined up to get into the airport. They were wanting out of the country. At first I thought I was sunk, but I got dropped of inside the parking lot and went to the entrance where I saw military personnel on guard. They were checking to see if people had already purchased tickets, and if they had then they were allowed to go inside to the airline counters. Fortunately I had my ticket information with me and was allowed inside.

Once inside I joined several hundred others, all of us looking to check in at our airline. I couldn’t even find a China Southern counter. Everything seemed at a standstill. I resolved to wait and see what would happen, so I found a corner to hole up in, near what I thought would be a structurally sound area of the building that still offered an escape route. Some us us took turns watching each others baggage while we went out to look for our airline counters, use the bathroom, etc. Every so often I felt the ground shake. Eventually I noticed a tiny white piece of paper with my flight number on it (the display boards were mostly off all day). I hurried back to get my baggage, approached that counter. I was second in line, though most lines were very long! I checked my (overweight) bag, and got my boarding pass. I thought I had it made as I passed through the next military checkpoint at the foot of the stairway to the waiting area outside of security. They were only allowing people with boarding passed past that point.

Once in the waiting area I wanted to find internet so I could let people know of my progress but everything was closed. So I found a metal bench, interlaced my bags into my arms, and took a nap. It was still several hours before my flight and the room was almost empty, and was quiet – no crowds, like I had been fighting for the past hours! A couple hours later I woke up to a room full of (noisy) people! The waiting area had filled up, and about an hour before my flight a man called everyone on my flight to quickly line up at security. I joined the line and thought to myself that it was going much better than I had expected, and I was looking forward to going inside security where things would be better still. Not…

I went through security and rounded the corner to a long hallway that lead to the gates. Shock hit me when I saw an immense crowd of what I estimated at about 1000 people! It turned out that while they were pushing people through, very few flights were going our. Most places were wall-to-wall, all seats were occupied, even the open floor was crowded with people, sitting or laying on blankets and such. We had to force our way through just to get from gate to gate. I looked for my gate, but it wasn’t clear where it was because the gate numbers were all messed up. There was more than one Gate 1, etc…. I made several trips back and fourth, surveying the situation and finally decided I had found the right gate/area in the terminal. And I waited…

As 11:15 pm approached I began asking about the flight and received conflicting responses. I was told it was there, it was not there, it was coming – no one knew, it became obvious. At this point I was actually out on the tarmac with many others, all looking for our flights. Shuttle buses would come and go, and it was really hard to know if it was the right one until you got right to the door and an airline official would look at your ticket (and then send you away).

This went one for a couple hours, way past my flight’s scheduled time. At one point i got a little panicked myself and got in the face of an airport official, and made him understand what flight I was looking for. His response was to calmly pat the brick wall next to him, as if to say “just settle yourself down here and wait, it will be here.” At that point I changed my thinking, from one of an entitled traveler to one of a large group, all doing the best we could to make it work. So I sat…

About an hour later we were told our flight was not coming until about 8:00 am the next day. Well, at least I had some sort of answer. I went inside, found my very own piece of cardboard and laid down, joining many others on the cold, hard marble floor of the hallway coming in from security. At this point I had been there only nine hours. Surely tomorrow would be smoother.

Saturday April 25, 2015

[This was a hard post to write…]

This day started out normally for me, though I was a bit sick with an intestinal bug that seemed to be going around. (I don’t think it was just me finally reacting to Nepal because a lot of people were feeling something also.) I went to a church that got out at about 10:00 am. I was there by myself, and the service was nearly 100% in Nepali, so I got very little of the message, but was able to make out enough (a few) Nepali words, and scriptural names, to figure out that it was about Abraham and having faith.

Just sitting on the dirty rug in a room full of people who I know to be believers in Jesus was still a great joy. When it was over we flooded out of the two story building (they had closed circuit TV between the floors) into a courtyard which very quickly was crowded with people, probably more than 200 – shoulder to shoulder. The entrance was via a 100 foot long alleyway with walls on both sides, like a cattle chute, and we slowly moved in that direction. In this culture (and other Asian cultures) you learn to “push” your way through, because if you don’t you get nowhere and everyone pushes around you. On the way out I passed the pastor who was speaking that day, shook his hand, and greeted him.

I finally made it out to open space, and started walking back to the guesthouse. The festival was still going strong and the streets were filled with people. When I got back to Goshen House I think I made myself some lunch, but I don’t remember for sure. My plan was to go out shopping in the afternoon in preparation my departure the next evening. No one else was around, the YWAM group was out in town, and the Australian missionaries I met on the way into Nepal were still at church. I was on my iPhone, Facebook messaging with Eileen. It was about straight up noon.

I was in the common living room when I heard what I thought was a jet flying over (we were on the flight path for the KTM airport, the only international airport in Nepal). The “jet” got louder and the walls started to shake a little. In the next one to two seconds my mind went through the following progression: that jet is really low. Is it going to crash? Maybe it’s not a jet, but an earthquake. It can’t be an earthquake. It’s an earthquake! It can’t be “the big one.” Yes, it’s a major quake!

At that moment one of the house workers came in the room. Everything was shaking violently at that point and we had to yell to be heard above the noise of the shaking. We were near the front door and I decided that being out in the open was best, and we both shot out the front door. I paused before moving out from under the porch to make sure nothing was falling, then darted into the front courtyard, which was about 15-20 feet wide and bordered by an eight foot brick wall and the guesthouse. There we were joined by two to three other workers from the guesthouse. One man (in blue in the picture) ran back in and came out with family members. Their living quarters were on the third floor! There was a lot of yelling and chaos. All together there were seven of us there – or so we thought.

The shaking continued “forever,” about one and a half minutes, and as it continued you could feel waves in the ground in addition to the shaking. It felt like standing on a dock when there are waves, and it made me feel seasick. I stood there, braced to keep my balance, constantly swiveling my head, watching for anything that might be falling – the building, power poles, wires, brick walls, anything nearby. Nothing near us collapsed! There is a form of prayer that takes place at a time like this that doesn’t require words, at least for me, where you just know God’s presence and have the knowledge that you will live through this. The idea of people screaming in terror to God at a time like this seems wholly unfitting to me… Slowly the shaking subsided but the waves kept coming. As the sound quieted you could hear the echos reverberating throughout the city. Birds were freaking out as they flew through the air, but otherwise there was an eerie silence.

We all just stood there and looked at each other for a moment, then some started nervously laughing, another got on his cell, and I took a picture… Yes, I had my phone with me, and not one frame of video was taken. (I get a pass on that, I know, but still…) We just sat out there a bit, not knowing the condition of our building, and feeling the tiny waves in the ground under us. Suddenly a young girl, one of the YWAMers, walked out of the building! We had no idea she was there, but she had stayed behind to sleep when her team went out earlier. She was the one who was sick the day before, and had been sound asleep when the quake hit. She just rolled off of her bed and rode it out on the second floor. She was in a daze when she came out and joined our little group. We collected our thoughts, and before too long the first big aftershock hit! The main quake eventually was determined to be a 7.8, and the larger aftershocks were probably in the 6.x range. There was this sense of “here we go again” constantly reasserting itself on us.

Before long Daniel and Rosemary (from Australia) returned from the church were they had been preaching that morning. Their story was much worse. Where we were located was apparently on more firm soil and rock, so damage was light. Buildings were cracked, but no collapses in our immediate area. The 1000 liter water tank on the roof ruptured a pipe and drained out, but that was the worst of it. Where Daniel and Rosemary had been was different. People were unable to stand, bricks rained down on the metal roof causing a horrendous noise! On the way back they were in between two brick walls when the first aftershock hit and had to avoid the collapsing walks.

The internet was of course immediately down, and Eileen went to bed when we were cut off. It was midnight at home and she just assumed the usual service interruption had happened. It wasn’t until the next morning that she heard the news. By then I had been able to get word out that I was safe, and so was Nora. The next couple hours were spent assessing the situation and riding out aftershocks. Nora was still in Pokhara and while the damage there was lighter, the shaking was about the same. It was about two hours before the internet came up for a short time the first time, and I got word from her that she was ok.

Eventually we made some quick trips into the guesthouse. I was nearly packed so I grabbed everything from my room, which was near the front door, and brought it out. I figured the first-aid kit, trail food, and UV water purification pen, along with warm clothes would be best if they were outside with us. On one trip inside there was a pretty big aftershock, and the didi looked at me and said “It comes, it comes!” with terror in her eyes. I told her it was ok, and was just an aftershock, and she relaxed – but we still quickly went back outside. It was then that I noticed that they were looking for someone to tell them whether they would be ok, or if a larger one would come and destroy them completely. Scientifically the possibility of a larger quake was a very real possibility, yet I had a confidence that we were not going to see that, so if nothing else I could be a calming factor for them.

By the evening, the decision had been made to not spend the night inside. There was a party venue a couple houses away that was set up for a wedding, and everyone from the area spent the next couple nights there. Due to the majority of structures in Nepal being masonry, everyone was literally sitting in the middle of the street all over Kathmandu. It was the safest place to be. The concept of standing in a doorway that much of the world adheres to could be a death sentence in Nepal!

At this point I should stop and talk about God’s amazing grace in this disaster. If there was ever a “good time” to have an earthquake in Nepal, noon on Saturday was THE time! Schools are closed, many businesses are closed, Christians are in church instead of stone houses (many of which we were told did collapse while they were at church), non-Christians are out in the fields instead of in their houses. Any other day, any other time of day, would have been much worse, and it was bad enough, with the death toll quickly climbing from hundreds to thousands.

As evening fell we packed up blankets and headed to the party venue for the night. There were periods of light rain but fortunately there were awnings up that kept us mostly dry. We made beds of chairs and eventually tried to get a little sleep. Sleep didn’t come easily though, with periodic aftershocks, and everyone’s nerves being on edge, it wasn’t easy.

At one point late at night, around midnight, I decided it was time to venture out. I had the desire to see if the internet was back up so I could make better communication with people back home, and I had another need… let me delicately say that the squatties and lack of adequate toilet paper were becoming a real problem as my intestinal bug has raised its ugly head with a vengeance!

The guesthouse workers felt a real sense of responsibility for us, and kept us on a short leash, so to speak. So I ducked out the gate when I had a chance and walked back to the guesthouse, used the backroom (while making plans for a fast exit if necessary), scavenged toilet paper, and best of all, found that the internet was up for just a few minutes while I was there. Using my phone I got a message out to Nora’s sister who (I think) was online at the time, and left a message for Eileen. Then the internet went down again… When I returned they were all relieved because apparently I had been missed. Oops… But it was awesome, because we all sat together and prayed, and I felt so close to these dear brothers and sisters in Christ!

As we laid there and the night went on, I was struck by several things about earthquakes. First of all, you hear it before you feel it! Still to this day a year later, when I feel/hear a large truck rumble by or some other such event, I get a little alert going off in my head. It’s not a bad trauma, but it’s there. Second, I realized the everything, as far as I could imagine, had been shaken! Everything had moved! It wasn’t some local event, like a huge explosion or building collapse, it was bigger! Every aftershock, some of which we quite sudden and violent though they might have only lasted two seconds, made that abundantly clear. The loud bang, followed by reverberations was very sobering, and would cause people to panic all over again. The third thing was the realization – which you could feel – that everything had actually moved! …a lot during the initial earthquake, and in smaller amounts during aftershocks. It wasn’t just shaking, it was a lurching movement. It was later determined that Kathmandu had dropped about one meter in altitude, had moved to the north three to four meters, and Everest was one meter higher!

Regarding injuries and death… Injuries to our immediate group were very light. Even a few blocks away it was not that way – whole buildings had collapsed. The worst situations were far enough away that we weren’t immediately aware of them, or the needs. I went out the next day to see what needs could be met, but most of our area was coping fairy well by then at least. I was frustrated by the fact that I had a 30 day visa and had to leave soon (if I had a plane to get on the next day). My heart was, and is still, broken for the people of this small, poor country, struggling to make it in the best of times.

Friday, April 24, 2016

The morning began with one last breakfast at Sacred Valley, then it was time to haul myself and my luggage to the Greenline bus station just a few blocks away. Nora accompanied me to see me off on the bus. It was a bit chaotic, and my luggage almost went on the wrong bus, but we got it sorted. Then is was time to say good-bye to Nora, who was staying behind in Pokhara for a conference before returning to Tansen. I hugged her and got on the bus – it was hard to leave!

The bus was nice and well worth the cost of about $25. At about 11:00 am we stopped for a complimentary lunch at Riverside Springs Resort. I was a really fancy place. The pool was amazing, and gigantic! It was really hot there, and it was good to sit out in the shade and feel the breeze by the river. At the entrance they had a pond, and photos and notes from famous visitors, such as climbers and movie stars.

After lunch we boarded the bus again. Some people transferred buses at this point. A young Nepali man sat next to me who turned out to be a doctor, and he of course knew of the hospital in Tansen. He was a great help to me in figuring out where in Kathmandu to get off the bus. He also lined me up with a taxi back to Goshen House, and my taxi driver was from Tansen!

When I got to the Jawalakhel section of Kathmandu there was a huge festival in progress, the streets were closed, and I had to walk the last few blocks to Goshen House.

After settling in at Goshen House, I went out to do a little shopping and looking around. I planned to buy some souvenirs the next day after church in the morning. (These plans would change…) I made my way through the festival and found Lotka Paper Craft, Higher Ground Bakery, and some really cool antique furniture that I sadly wouldn’t be able to take back to Eileen.

After I got back, I was sitting in the common area of Goshen House and was starting to feel sick, like “uh-oh, here comes an intestinal bug!” There was a small YWAM team also staying there and one of them was sick also – I blamed her. Ha! I was a bit feverish and aching, so I went to bed early and hoped for the best.