Earthquake, Aftershocks Renew Relief Efforts for Nepal
Edison International’s Relief Fund for the earthquake tops $42,000 in employee contributions and a company match.
Originally published in Edison's Online Newsroom
Bibhush Ranjit’s family in Kathmandu had just begun to settle down after the devastating magnitude-7.8 earthquake struck Nepal April 25, when several big aftershocks May 12 sent everyone running into the streets again.
Ranjit, a business analyst with Southern California Edison’s (SCE) Distribution Grid Solutions in Irwindale, was able to briefly talk by cellphone to his parents and cousins to make sure they were OK, but there was little he could do to ease their fears.
“Everyone is just terrified,” he said. “They thought things were getting back to normal.”
Sanjay Guragain, an SCE IT Technology strategist in Irwindale, also was relieved when his father-in-law called from Kathmandu to report his family in Nepal was unhurt after the aftershocks.
But Guragain worries about their well-being. He said his family lived outdoors for four days after the initial earthquake, afraid their home might collapse. The aftershocks sent everyone outside again.
“And the weather is not good,” he said. “This is the rainy season but they have no choice.”
The earthquake and aftershocks ravaged much of the Himalayan nation, killing more than 8,600 people, injuring nearly 17,000 and destroying or damaging more than 756,000 homes, according to the Nepalese government.
