© BigStock Mount Everest
An earthquake measuring 7.8 in magnitude rocked Nepal today—killing over 1,400 people—and triggered an avalanche on Mt. Everest that has left at least 18 climbers dead at the South Base Camp and an unknown number missing or trapped.
With the climbing season in full swing, 700 climbers are in the region and over 300 are on the mountain itself, according to the Nepal Mountaineering Association.
"The avalanche apparently happened between the Khumbu Icefall and base camp," Ang Tshering of the Nepal Mountaineering Association reported to
Sky News.Everest ER posted on Facebook: "A huge avalanche off Pumori covered many tents in base camp. Many of our friends in base camp have been seriously injured and killed. With the help of nearly every able bodied friend in base camp, we moved our clinic to the IMG camp where we are caring for patients. We very limited communications at the moment. Pray for Nepal, friends. Namaste."
Carsten Lillelund Pedersen, a 45-year-old from Denmark who was in base camp at the time of the avalanche, told
NBC News that he hid behind a rock until the avalanche had passed. He reports that his group has constructed a makeshift hospital in their base camp dining tent to treat the injured.
"We are treating casualties—like smaller fractures to the head, shoulder injuries, etc," he said to NBC via a Facebook interview.
Climbers in Camp 1, above the Khumbu Icefall, report being safe, as well as all teams on Annapurna, known for avalanches and closer to the center of the earthquake.
The epicenter struck between Kathmandu and Pokhara, according to the
US Geological Survery. A number of historical buildings, including Kathmandu's landmark Dharahara tower and other Unesco world heritage sites, were destroyed.
It is the worst earthquake to hit Nepal in 81 years.
More information to follow
Comment: Billions of dollars spent on war, each year, and the US sends only $1mil... at least that makes their priorities obvious. Given the recent uptick in earthquakes and other natural disasters, we can assume only more of the same is on the way. Why's all this happening now? What's the root cause? For a good discussion on the matter the interested reader should check out Earth Changes and the Human Cosmic Connection.