What It Was Like to Be in Nepal During Both Earthquakes
— -- A Nepalese citizen who is also a resident of the state of New York was in Kathmandu last month when the city suffered a devastating earthquake, and he was on the same street when another quake struck this afternoon.
"The feeling and the scenes were all to similar -- everyone rushing out on the street," Kashish Das Shrestha told ABC News.
Das Shrestha is a Nepali citizen who works as a sustainable development policy adviser and runs the City Museum in Kathmandu but lives in New York.
He traveled back to Nepal in March before the April 25 quake that registered a 7.8 magnitude, and was working in the museum at the time with two visitors.
"I tried to help them get out of the building but the shake was so powerful, it felt like I almost had no control over my body," he said.
The epicenter of today's 7.3-magnitude quake was slightly closer to Mount Everest but it still was felt in the center of the city, where many have been camped out in tents in open spaces to avoid being underneath buildings.
“These folks were already in open spaces today, busy drying their blankets, mattresses after last night's storm,” he said. “They have a lot more neighbors tonight for sure.”
"There was a lot less crying, but there was a clear sense of 'we can't sleep indoors tonight,'" he said.
"Despite the continued effects of the quake, a sense of relaxed atmosphere had set in over the weekend. You could feel that evaporate this afternoon," he said.
By nightfall on Tuesday, at least 37 people were confirmed dead with more than 1,100 wounded but those numbers are expected to rise because the epicenter was located in such a remote area that has prevented rescue teams from responding fully yet.
Das Shrestha said that the most “intangible and unquantifiable” damage from the quake is the ruined “sense of security.”
