Apr-May 2015: NEPAL EARTHQUAKES

April 25th, 2015, just outside Nepal’s capital Kathmandu, Nepal was shaken by a 7.9 magnitude earthquake, which was followed by 41 aftershocks within a 26-hour period
May 12th, 2015, Nepal was again shaken by a 7.3 magnitude earthquake and followed by a 6.3 magnitude aftershock half an hour later
Nepal survivors were the first to provide aid by digging through the rubble to help find bodies and survivors. Nepal was also aided by organizations such as RedR India, RedR Australia, and RedR UK
WHO contributed more than $1.1 million to aid in the emergency response in Nepal and sent medication, emergency medical kits, as well as other medical supplies to help thousands of individuals in dire need of medical attention after the earthquake
The United States immediately sent a disaster-response team and an initial help of $1 million

Figure 1. People try to free a man from the rubble in Nepal. CNN. 2015

Death and Injury

First earthquake left more than 8,000 individuals dead and more than 18,000 individuals injured, with the remaining survivors left homeless due to the destruction of the earthquake
The second earthquake in Nepal left an additional 125 individuals dead and more than 2,500 individuals injured
The 7.8 magnitude earthquake in Nepal left 73,624 homes destroyed in the valley, leaving many homeless; waste and rubble remained throughout the area.
7.8 magnitude quake also left twenty-six hospitals and 900 health facilities were damaged or destroyed by the earthquake

Researchers have concluded that earthquake survivors had parts of the brain, such as the right prefrontal lobe, the parietal lobe, the basal ganglia, and the right parahippocampus altered after exposure to the acute trauma. Dysregulation of the prefrontal cortex may be linked to mood dysregulation of the survivors of the earthquake
Earthquake survivors had alterations to the brain in the prefrontal-limbic, parietal, and striatal system. The systems in the brain altered by such a major life stressor as an earthquake, create difficulty in survivors’ ability to modulate and respond to heightened affective arousal