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Nearly two weeks after a strong earthquake devasted Sikkim, eastern Nepal, China and Bhutan, the known death toll is approaching 100. The relatively low casualty rate has been attributed to the light population density in the remote regions of all four countries. However, not all the information has come in, and the low death toll masks massive damage to infrastructure. Rescue efforts have also been delayed by unseasonably heavy late monsoon rains in the area.
There have been no reports yet from several settlements in and around the village of Ghunsa near the epicenter of the 18 September quake, and no relief yet in the north of Lelep in the Tamor Valley and in Olangchungola on the border with Tibet. Heavy landslides have blocked trails and thousands of people are still sleeping in tents or overhangs and caves.
A large-scale rehabilitation effort needs to be launched to rebuild schools that have been destroyed, and also to repair buildings severely damaged. Had the quake struck during school hours, hundreds of children would have been killed, as these pictures show.
![]() SUNDAR LAMA Bandana Dewan peers from alongside the badly damaged classroom in Lelep the day after the earthquake. |
![]() The mountain north of Lelep before the earthquake and in a picture taken on 19 September with a huge landslide scar. Locals said there was a thunderous sound as huge rocks rolled down the mountain. |
![]() KHEM RAJ NIRAULA |
![]() SUNDAR LAMA Grade 3 student Arina Anbuhang and her sister of Nangkholang recount the terrible night, and the ruins of Laxmi primary School where Arina and her sister studied. |
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![]() HIT NARYAN SHRESTHA The newly constructed classroom of the Sideshwor Secondary School of Phejung of Panchthar district. |
![]() KHEM RAJ NIRAULA This school toilet in Lelep collapsed completely, with only the doors standing. |
![]() KHEM RAJ NIRAULA Families whose houses were destroyed have been spending nights in tents. |
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