A decade after the Gorkha earthquake

It has been a decade since the devastating Gorkha earthquake of Baishkha 12, 2072 B.S. hit Nepal killing at least 9,000 people. The 7.8 Magnitude earthquake that struck on Baishkha 12, with its epicenter at Barpak, Gorkha, damaged 920 cultural heritage sites in the country, including those in the Kathmandu Valley.

There are reports of damage to 406 heritage sites within the Kathmandu Valley and 344 outside the valley, including 170 on the UNESCO list. Most of the damaged structures have been reconstructed, while some are in the process of being completed.

Ninety five heritage sites, both large and small, including Kasthamandap, Nine-Story Durbar, Gaddi Baithak, Vishnu Temple, Trailokya Temple, and Mulchowk, located within the Kathmandu Durbar Square area, were damaged in the disaster. So far more than 90 percent of them have been reconstructed.

Of the 24 heritage sites within the Patan Durbar Square area, 22 have been reconstructed. The reconstruction of the Rana period court building and Narasimha Temple is ongoing. Most of the earthquake-damaged Sattal Durbar, Vatsala Temple, Shilu Mahadev, Rameshwor, Dwarika, Kedarnath, Badrinarayan Temple, and Durbar Square entrance gates within the Bhaktapur Durbar Square area have also been reconstructed.

Meanwhile, speaking at a programme to observe the 10th anniversary of 2015 Earthquake in Kathmandu Prime Minister K.P. Oli said “we can also build Nepal a safe country from the standpoint of natural disaster.” He instructed Risk Minimization and Management Authority to focus on preparedness of disaster before it actually happens and to ensure that the future infrastructures are earthquake proof. “We need to be careful so as to minimize possible damage from the effects of climate change as well,” he pointed out.