Nepal-India Quake Toll Reaches 900 : Rescuers in Remote Areas Hampered by Monsoon Rains

The death toll from a powerful earthquake along Nepal’s border with India reached at least 900 today and monsoon rains hampered rescuers trying to reach isolated Himalayan villages feared leveled by the area’s worst temblor in more than 50 years.

The early-morning quake Sunday triggered waves that swamped boats and drowned dozens in neighboring Bangladesh and destroyed thousands of brick, straw and stone homes in Nepal and India, where many residents moved outdoors in fear of aftershocks.

The Red Cross of Nepal issued an urgent appeal for blood and hospitals were crowded beyond capacity.

Conflict on Magnitude

The quake, its epicenter about 100 miles southeast of the Nepalese capital of Katmandu, was measured at a magnitude of 6.7 by the U.S. Geological Survey, but the Nepalese Department of Mines and Minerals said it registered 5.7.

Niranjan Phapa, minister of state for home affairs, said at a news conference today that at least 450 people are confirmed dead in Nepal. He said he feared that the torrential rains would cause many more deaths.

“The rains will only trigger landslides and wash villages down into rivers and valleys,” he said.

In neighboring India, survivors, rescue workers and newspapers said at least 450 people died in the northern state of Bihar near the border with Nepal.

Police in Bangladesh said 50 people were feared drowned when waves generated by the quake capsized their boats.

Crowded Hospitals

Indian television today showed the devastation in Bihar: crumbled buildings, makeshift morgues lined with rows of bodies wrapped in white shrouds, damaged hospital wards packed with survivors.

Medical teams in India carried medicine and other supplies to overcrowded hospitals and the army was deployed to help search for victims.

Phapa said 21 of the kingdom’s 75 districts suffered extensive damage, with the hardest hit being Dharan, a sparsely populated border region where at least 131 people died.

Bir Bahadur Shahi, secretary of the Home Affairs Ministry, flew to eastern Nepal on Sunday. He said 50,000 to 60,000 houses were destroyed in the Dharan district alone.

Cracked Houses

“Ninety percent of the remaining houses are cracked,” Shahi said, adding that most of the damage was to modern houses of stone and older houses from mud and bricks. Wooden houses were not affected, he said.

Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi flew to Bihar to tour some of the hardest hit areas. The government said it would release a detailed report after he returned to the capital tonight.

The quake roused people from their sleep in Bihar and nine other Indian states and central and eastern Nepal. It lasted about a minute and aftershocks continued for about an hour.