‘We are expecting a massive earthquake someday.’
A Christian leader told me this when I visited Kathmandu a couple of years ago. Nobody knew when, but they knew it was coming: the seismologists predicted it.
In a tragic irony, just a week before the earthquake 50 scientists from around the world gathered in Kathmandu to discuss how the country could be better prepared. But it was too late to avert the loss of life that occurred just before midday local time on 25 April. With a magnitude of 7.8, and the epicentre in the middle of the country (Gorkha District), the quake has utterly devastated this scenic mountainous country.