Sikkim Earthquake hits India, Tibet and Nepal
On Sunday, a 6.9-magnitude earthquake hit Sikkim, India at approximately 6pm. Sikkim is a state North-East of India within the Himalayan region.
The tremors of the quake could be felt in India’s neighbouring countries, Tibet and Nepal. In Yandong County within Tibet, China’s Xinhua news agency reported that at least 7 people have been killed and 22 injured. This area is about 25 miles away from Sikkim. The earthquake has also caused hundreds of landslides, and disrupted communications, power and water supplies in the surrounding areas.
The death toll is slowly rising, and as of 5pm, 20 September, 81 people have been reported dead in India, Nepal and Tibet combined. Rescue workers are having trouble clearing the path towards the epicenter. They have resorted to using explosives to clear fallen trees, buildings and other infrastructure.
Do take a look at the news below, it will be updated as more news becomes available.
To those families affected by the earthquake, you are in my thoughts and prayers…
Tsem Rinpoche
Areas most affected by the Sikkim earthquake
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https://video.tsemtulku.com/videos/sikkim-earthquake.mp4
Deadly earthquake rocks India, Nepal and Tibet
19 September 2011 | Last updated at 06:20 GMT
An eight-year-old child was among three killed after the wall of the British embassy in Nepal collapsed.
The epicentre of the earthquake was in India’s mountainous Sikkim state, where at least 18 people were killed.
Rain and landslides are hindering search and rescue operations there and officials in Sikkim fear that the toll could rise further.
Several earthquakes hit the region this year, but none caused major damage.
At least five people were killed in Nepal, police there say, and at least seven died in Tibet, China’s official Xinhua news agency reported. At least six other people were killed in other Indian states.
Officials in all regions say the death toll is likely to rise as rescuers reach the remote mountainous areas struck by the quake.
Power cuts
The quake struck the mountainous north-eastern Indian state of Sikkim at 18:10 (12:40 GMT) on Sunday, according to the US Geological Survey, and was followed by two strong aftershocks.
Telephone lines were knocked out across the state, while power cuts plunged Gangtok, the capital, into darkness just seconds after the quake hit.
Hundreds of people there spent the night on the streets after buildings developed cracks, reports say.
Tremors were felt in the north-eastern Indian states of Assam, Meghalaya, and Tripura. They were also felt in regions of India: West Bengal, Bihar, Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Chandigarh and Delhi. Bangladesh and Bhutan also felt the quake.
One person was killed during a stampede as people panicked in a town in the eastern state of Bihar, and other deaths were reported near Darjeeling, in West Bengal.
Landslides have blocked the two main highways linking Sikkim with the rest of the country making it difficult for the rescue workers to reach the area, reports say.
Dozens of people were injured due to building collapses and falling debris.
Buildings evacuated
Just over the border in Tibet’s Yadong County, just 40km (miles) from Sikkim, the earthquake caused hundreds of landslides disrupting traffic, telecommunications, power and water supplies.
Chinese authorities said relief supplies were on the way to the area.
In Kathmandu, 270km (170 miles) west of the quake’s epicentre, buildings were evacuated and traffic came to a standstill.
Three people died when a wall of the British Embassy collapsed. Those dead included a motorcyclist and his eight-year-old child who were struck as they rode past, police said.
Two others died in Dharan in Sunsari district, including a five-year-old child, according to the the Himalayan Times newspaper.
Lawmakers in parliament hurried out of the building shouting when the quake struck in the middle of a debate on the budget, witnesses said.
Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-south-asia-14965598
Himalayan quake rescuers move to epicentre
Rupam Jain Nair | September 20, 2011 – 6:29PM
Rescue teams backed by army engineers using explosives are trying to reach the remote epicentre of a powerful Himalayan earthquake that killed 83 people in India, Nepal and Tibet.
Before the grim search for more victims can begin, the main challenge after Sunday’s 6.9-magnitude quake is to reach the isolated, mountainous impact zone on the border between India’s northeastern Sikkim state and Nepal.
Convoys of vehicles carrying rescue workers, medical teams and emergency supplies left the Sikkim capital Gangtok at daybreak on Tuesday.
But progress was tortuously slow over the narrow, badly damaged roads more often frequented by groups of adventurous tourists heading for Himalayan trekking trails.
After covering just a short section of the 60-kilometre route to the worst-affected districts of Mangan and Sangthan, the convoys came to a complete halt near the town of Phingla, where the path was blocked by a huge rockfall.
As army engineers drilled holes for explosives to try and blow apart the largest boulders, rescuers could only wait in frustration along with distraught locals trying to get through to relatives – unsure whether they were alive or dead.
“I’ve been here for six hours, waiting for the army to clear the road,” said Pema Doma, 37, who has heard nothing from her parents or 16-year-old son in Mangan since the quake hit.
“I’d walk if they would let me,” she said. “The anxiety is killing me. What if he’s screaming for me? What if he’s calling for me and I can’t even hear him?”
Those who did attempt walking around the rockfall were stopped by soldiers.
“I know many shortcuts to reach Mangan but the army says it’s not safe,” said P Sherpa, 62, whose son is a student at the North Sikkim Academy, a private school in Mangan.
“So all we can do is sit here and stare at the rocks.”
One army official told AFP it could take up to 48 hours to clear the entire stretch of road to the quake epicentre.
But on a positive note, a break in the monsoon weather allowed a resumption of helicopter flights which had been grounded most of Monday by heavy rains and low cloud.
Air force officials said food packages and small medical teams with doctors and paramedics had been air-dropped into Mangan and Sangthan.
The death toll from building collapses and landslides in Sikkim stood at 50, but Indian Home Secretary RK Singh warned the number could rise as emergency relief workers reached far-flung villages.
Officials said around 300 people had been admitted to hospitals across the state.
More than 5000 army troops were mobilised to help clear roads and assist with the relief operation.
The Press Trust of India said 26 tourists, including 15 trekkers, had been rescued and taken to army encampments for their own safety.
Around a million people visit Sikkim every year and an estimated 60 per cent of the state’s tiny population of 500,000 rely on tourism for their livelihood.
“Business will be severely affected,” said state tourism official Sam Ten.
Hundreds of Gangtok residents spent a second night out in the open, too frightened to sleep in homes badly damaged by the quake.
Many saw out the night in the city’s football stadium, slinging plastic sheets over the goalposts or sleeping on the terraces.
“The stadium is our kitchen and bedroom for the night. We’re honestly just too scared to consider anything else,” said 32-year-old Amrita Laqandri.
In Nepal, eight people were killed and hundreds of homes destroyed or damaged in the east of the country, where rescuers faced the same problems as their Indian counterparts with rains and mudslides blocking the only highway.
Eighteen other people died in the Indian states of Bihar and West Bengal, while China’s official Xinhua news agency said seven people had been killed in southern Tibet, near the border with Sikkim.
Source: http://news.smh.com.au/breaking-news-world/himalayan-quake-rescuers-move-to-epicentre-20110920-1kiw5.html
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Reading this old post had me think deeply how fragile life is. Nothing is permanent as life goes by. Over 50 people have died in India, most of them in Sikkim, in a devastating earthquake back in 2011. The measured a forceful 6.8 on the Richter scale had caused a significant damage in Nepal and Sikkim border. Earthquake tremors were felt in parts of India, Tibet and West Bengal. Thousands of people trapped in remote areas of Sikkim, rescue and relief teams had try every possible way to help them. Many villages in quake-hit Sikkim are out of reach and thousands are said to be affected. Sad to know that hundreds of houses have reportedly collapsed and many suffered substantial damage . We are fortunate to live in Malaysia where we do not experience earthquake at all. Whatever it is we need to appreciate every moment in our lives to learn , practice Dharma . Lives our life to the fullness meaningful.
Thank you Rinpoche for this sharing.
Japan recent 8.9 magnitude earthquake on mar.12, 2011 was said to be a “terrible reminder of the power of nature”. But on sunday, 18th sept.,2011, a 6.9 magnitude earthquake hit Sikkim, a state north-east of India within the Himalayan region, affecting neighbouring countries like Tibet and Nepal. At least 7 people were killed with 22 injuries in Tibet, causing landslides and disrupting communication power and water supplies at surrounding areas. As of 20th sept. 81 dead was recorded in India, Nepal and Tibet combined. Our hearfelt prayers go to the peoples in the earthquake effected areas that no further damages and unpleasant news are eminent in the lives and properties of the effected areas! OM mani padme hum.
It is so easy to die than to live. So may factors that can end one’s life in that instant. So many more things that support us to stop living than the opposite effect. Even during the massive tsunami in 2004 when some people escaped, it was through missing a flight and so on. So not having the right type of karma one can be at risk of dying at any time. So create the causes to live, going vegetarian helps the planet, animal liberation helps the plant, help the planet to have less freak calamities that seems to be happening with ever increasing frequency now!
This few years always heard earthquake, people died and people suffer, people crying, people disappointed, upset, blame, sorrow….if you learn Dharma then you know how to do handle the pain, then reduce some suffer from our heart. So in this degeneration time, please share more and more Dharma to your friend or people. please action fast!!!
Everything happens has it own cause. We human did not take care of the environment, global warming. We do not think of our next generation, but just to get money. when disaster like this happen then we feel sad, but did not do anything much to improve the situation.
My send my prayer to them and hope the world will stop killing, take care of the environment.
It is very sad to hear the sufferings during Natural Disasters. And it is happening more and more lately. We have the earthquake in Japan this year and now in India, Tibet & Nepal. It is worst when it happened in countries which are poor and not developed as help comes slower.
My thoughts and prayers are with them and their family.
So many disasters we hear daily, people dying, accidents, landslides, earthquakes, global warming, flood, tsunami and people have been talking about the end of the world for decades now. And anything can happen now.
We see people suffered tremendously due to natural disasters, abandonment, abused, hunger… yet some of us are still not happy and satisfied with our lives. How ironic this world has become.
May the victims be okay and our prayers to you.
When it comes to natural disasters its something that wakes us up as to the fragility of life and how insignificant we really are. I have never been in a big event such as an earthquake, but the helplessness of what will happen next, and the feelings of being at the mercy of nature must be very upsetting for those affected.
Much Prayers to them _/|\_
May those who are stuck find their way and those hurt be rescued and safe soon…Our prayers with you all.