訊息中心

Today’s 7.4 magnitude earthquake struck while I was with a Reuters television crew and we were conducting a school damage and safety assessment with Government of Nepal engineers. A Reuters TV cameraman was with us filming the assessment of the schools and we had visited two schools already and were just in the middle of our third school assessment when the earthquake struck. We were all inside the school building at the time when there was a loud noise as the building started violently shaking. It took a second or two to realize what was happening but then we ran for the door. We gathered quickly outside in a small courtyard and the violent shaking continued and didn’t stop for perhaps a minute, but it seemed much longer. We all thought the buildings around us were going to collapse and gathered in the center of the small courtyard in a kind of semi-circle.

The Reuters TV cameraman continued filming throughout and is filing the story now. Fortunately the earthquake finally ended – it is a terrifying experience – and the buildings did not fall down. Everyone was safe and accounted for, though of course shaken. I conducted two interviews in the courtyard with Reuters and then we went back to the school we had been to previously by foot because we had met some children there. While walking a follow-up aftershock happened and fortunately, they had left the school before the earthquake hit and we believe they are all safe. On the way back to the UNICEF Nepal office the streets were filled with people – everyone is out of doors. We know that all UNICEF staff in Nepal are safe and accounted for but of course we are very concerned about the impact of this second earthquake in just over two weeks on the children of Nepal, particularly on their psychosocial well-being - going through an earthquake is a terrifying experience for anyone, and perhaps more particularly children. UNICEF continues to work around the clock to support 1.7 million children affected now by two earthquakes in Nepal through our emergency health, nutrition, child protection, water, sanitation and education.

© UNICEF Nepal/ 2015/ Kent Page Just minutes after today’s earthquake, this school in Kathmandu received a ‘red flag’ which means that the school is not safe for children to return to due to damage. UNICEF staff and Government of Nepal engineers were inside the school conducting a school damage assessment when the earthquake struck. The school remained standing and everyone was safe, though shaken.

We thank everyone who has supported UNICEF’s work in Nepal – there is still a lot of work to do here for the Nepali children.