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In Photos: A Valley That’s Still Devastated 18 Months After The Nepal Earthquake

Suman Das

By Suman Das: 

On April 25, 2015, a massive earthquake hit Nepal with a moment magnitude of 7.8 and claimed more than 8000 lives. The last time a natural disaster of this scale hit Nepal, it was 1934.

The earthquake also set into motion avalanches on Mount Everest and the Langtang Valley, respectively. More than 250 people died due to the avalanche in the Langtang Valley.

The national park in the Langtang Valley is the first of its kind in the Himalayas and is located in North East of Nepal. Tourists have been known to throng the Langtang village for the trek that starts at Syaphru Besi and passes through the Lama Hotel, Ghoratabela, and Kyanjin Gompa.

The avalanche that was triggered by the Gorkha earthquake obliterated the beautiful village. I clicked a few photos while I was on the trek. The photos show just how destructive both the earthquake and the avalanche was. 18 months after, this is what walking through the Langtang village was like.

The trek started at this bridge at Syabhru Besi. The prayer flags are a common sight throughout the Langtang national park.
Way to the Langtang valley.
View from the Langtang valley of the White Mountain or Gangchempo.
One of the areas that was affected by the land slide.
This is called The Book Of The Dead. The locals wrote the names of those who died in the earthquake.
Large swathes of the valley was destroyed by the earthquake.
Trekkers on their way to Kyanjin Gompa through the ruins.
Many families were wiped out instantly.
The situation is far from returning to normalcy.
The avalanche in the Langtang valley claimed 250 lives.
Found this broken helicopter in the Langtang valley. The helicopter was rescuing people after the earthquake but crashed due to an overload.
Houses have now begun to be built again.
The way to Kyanjin Gompa.
A Buddhist temple that has been closed ever since the earthquake.

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Image credit: All images have been clicked by the author.
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