B.C.'s Nepalese community waits for word on loved ones in quake zone
Metro Vancouver residents with ties to Nepal are on edge waiting to hear if their loved ones are alive after a powerful earthquake ripped through the country.
In Surrey dozens of members of the Nepalese community gathered together around televisions watching news coverage of the earthquake which registered a magnitude of 7.8.
"I could see a lot of people on the street," said Anil Pardhan, who is with the Nepal Cultural Society of B.C. "Some may be dying and injured. It was devastating. I tried to call my relatives but I couldn't reach them."
It's estimated there are 2,000 people from Nepal living in British Columbia.
Worried about the entire country
Meenu Dahal was able to confirm that her parents were not injured in the earthquake, still she says trying to reach them was emotional and thinking about her home country is difficult.
"Away from home I am so worried," she said. "I am so worried about the entire country right now. It is just not my family. It's not enough for me. My family is ok, I am so devastated, I am so hearthbroken."
Many buildings in Kathmandu crumbled once the shaking started.
Bishnu Pandey, a seismologist who grew up in Nepal and now works studying seismic design at BCIT, says his home country can't afford to prepare for this sort of earthquake.
"As experts we were expecting that, particularly the buildings that were made of mud and wood, the temples and heritage buildings. It is truly a devastating scene."
In Vancouver, the owners of Cafe Kathmandu on Commercial Drive say the response and words of support from Canadians has been overwhelming.
Pradeep Sharma has been in Canada for more than 10 years, but still has a lot of friends and family in Nepal's capital, Kathmandu.
He says it took hours to get reach his parents to find out if they were hurt or worse.
"None of the phones were working. I was just waiting until three o'clock in the morning," he said. "I was trying to get a hold of them, finally got a hold of my dad. He says continuously there have been a lot of after-shocks."
Sharma and co-owner of the cafe, Abi Sharma, are now making plans to raise money for people back home.
"They are really, really in hardship to begin with," he said. "And on top of this houses are gone, loved ones are dead. Please, please do whatever you can to help."
