Nepal’s 2nd quake strengthens humanitarian efforts

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The 7.3-magnitude earthquake that struck May 12 killed dozens and injured and displaced several thousands more, said Nepali Home Ministry spokesman Laxmi Prasad Dhakal.

Tuesday’s quake comes two weeks after the 7.8 quake on April 25 that killed 8,000 people. Reports say more than 75 people have died as a result of the quake. The government encourages people to stay out of buildings until the buildings have been cleared to be entered.

BYU grad Bikalpa Neupane founded onestopportal.org, a one-stop site for all those who want to provide aid to Nepal. The site is dedicated to providing reputable information, aid and instruction to those who wish to provide relief. It gives a list of reputable organizations to donate to, a plan for volunteers and activists to follow and several online sources of information.

They are encouraging those who want money to go straight to disaster relief to donate to their gofundme.com campaign.

“There is way too much information floating in the Internet,” Neupane said. “It was hard for me, even as a software professional to find the right information very quickly.”

Neupane fears that the poor infrastructures and possible governmental mismanagement may prevent aid from going where it is needed.

“International organizations like Red Cross, DoB, WFP have enough funds if they really want to mobilize. We identified that money and aid have not reached to the local people yet. So we established our own trustworthy volunteers in Nepal and raised funds for direct relief,” Neupane said.

This second quake has delayed relief efforts and blocked roads to isolated villages.

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