We knew it was coming. But now that it is here, the world, for those of us who know and love Nepal, has shifted. Having escaped being crushed by a water tank, a friend in Kathmandu says, “My heart keeps shaking.” A text message comes in from another friend from rural Nepal, far from the epicenter but still impacted: “My house is not able to live.”

Nearly noon on Saturday, local time, a massive 7.9 magnitude earthquake hit the Himalayan country, sandwiched between India and China. As of this writing, the official death toll is nearing 4,000, but I speak with confident dread that the actual casualties from this catastrophic event are orders of magnitude greater. These deaths are occurring not only in Kathmandu, the capital city, but also across Nepal’s rural hill and mountain communities.

See the rest at the Independent.