Editorial: the fearsome forces of nature

Photo: XINHUA / SIPA

The 7.8 magnitude quake that shook Nepal this Saturday took the lives of thousands. The tremors were felt in neighbouring India, China and Bangladesh. Alas, the far-away Estonia was not spared either. Tragically, a member of our tourist group perished in Nepal. With dozens of Estonian citizens in Nepal during the earthquake, foreign ministry was yesterday able to claim most are okay.

In Estonia, earthquakes are a rarity of course and even if they do happen, there’s not much trouble to be feared as a rule. The strongest known quake in Estonia, in Osmussaare in the fall of 1976, was rather a cause of curiosity.

In Nepal, the geology is totally different. The country sits at a location where two tectonic plates meet, the pressure a cause for the towering Himalayas. And the nature just keeps up its own business whether people like it or not. Thus, quakes are quite the ordinary over there; even so, the extremely dangerous and damaging ones are not too frequent. To our knowledge, there was one worse than this in Nepal in 1934.

Nepali and Chinese border features the highest peak on Earth, Mount Everest – a favourite of alpinists. By the quake, avalanches were triggered on the mountain, causing lots of deaths. In the entire history of Mount Everest, this Saturday was the darkest. 

Surely, many of us will still remember the Haiti earthquake of 2010. Though weaker by force that this catastrophe in Nepal, it epicentre was right under the side of the nation’s capital city. Back then, the victims probably numbered over 100,000.

The Haiti quake was followed by an extensive international rescue operation, and for days after the event survivals were helped out of the ruins. Now, in Nepal, for the time being the deaths announced are fewer in number, but just like in Haiti, the international community has been mobilised – humanitarian and rescue teams are arriving from the world over.

Along with the others, Estonia isn’t sitting idly by and is putting together a rescue and police team to help along. Though a small nation, the little we can do will still matter. In a situation so tragic, who would feel too tiny and distant ...