Reporting for the Times of India, Jason Overdorf highlights the risk of earthquakes in Nepal and describes the situation so far, and the various efforts that have been made to prepare for disaster.
"Unfortunately, that is the reality (of what we are facing), if not worse," said disaster specialist Amod Dixit. "If Kathmandu is impacted with a shaking of an intensity IX on the Mercalli intensity scale, the aftermath is going to be much worse than in Haiti."
"Chile has had a huge magnitude earthquake in the past, and as a medium income country it has the resources and institutions in place that have built earthquake-resistant housing and infrastructure ," said Saurabh Dani, disaster management specialist for the World Bank’s South Asia team. "Haiti and Nepal are both low income countries, with poor building standards, (and) even if the magnitude of the earthquake is less than the one in Chile, the impact in loss of life would be catastrophic."