The deadly earthquake in Nepal is halfway around the world, but for Nashville’s small Nepalese community, the tragedy hits close to home. Immigrants here are trying to raise aid money to help more than 9,000 injured victims, as the death count rises to nearly 5,000 as of Tuesday night.
Deependra Bhatta, a Tennessee State University graduate student from Nepal, found out about the earthquake by text from his sister. His grandparents lived near the epicenter.
“When I tried calling my grandmother, there was no network,” he sayd. “Then I came to realize that my house has been totally destroyed.”
Bhatta’s grandparents did survive; they were able to get out before the house collapsed. Now, he says, they’re homeless and living in a tent — but others in the area are still stuck, injured in their homes.
“There are more than 1,000 houses that have been totally destroyed, and people are still inside the houses,” he said. He also worries about the survivors dying of hunger or injuries.
The last earthquake of this severity was in 1934. TSU professor Bharat Pokharel remembers his grandmother talking about it, and how the cows were the first to notice it.
“That was the little indicator for Grandma,” he said. “If the animals are making noise, there’s something happening.”
The country knows it’s an earthquake-prone area, he said, but it was not prepared for this one. “Now it’s a big shock to us.”
The New York Times has compiled a list of organizations collecting donations for the earthquake relief effort.
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