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The Nepal Earthquake: Link Roundup and How You Can Help

The photographs taken by ABC Australia journalist Siobhan Heanue on Saturday, April 25th are eerie. The temple square in Kathmandu is peaceful, filled with people enjoying the beautiful structures, with birds perched on roofs and milling on the pavement.

This article was published in Scientific American’s former blog network and reflects the views of the author, not necessarily those of Scientific American


The photographs taken by ABC Australia journalist Siobhan Heanue on Saturday, April 25th are eerie. The temple square in Kathmandu is peaceful, filled with people enjoying the beautiful structures, with birds perched on roofs and milling on the pavement. The sacred buildings soar skyward, the sweeping shapes of their roofs elegant. They seem timeless.

An hour later, piles of bricks and rubble are all that remain of many structures. The birds are gone. People are no longer strolling or reposing, but trying desperately to dig out survivors. The peace has been shattered. The temple square will never be the same.

Dharahara Tower, a gorgeous pinnacle reaching for the heavens, was reduced to a stump in seconds. It had stood for nearly two hundred years. When it fell, nearly two hundred people died with it.


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