The 27th Earthquake Safety Day is being observed by organizing awareness programs across the country today.
Kathmandu Metropolitan City has also marked the Earthquake Safety Day by organizing a program in the capital city Kathmandu.
An earthquake memorial meeting was held at Bhugol Park, New Road, in Kathmandu with the theme, ‘With Lessons, Robust Structures and Strong Preparedness,' taught by the previous earthquakes, on Wednesday.
The Metropolitan City has stated that this day is being observed to raise awareness so that future generations do not have to bear the losses caused by the devastating earthquakes like the one that struck on January 15, 1934 AD.
Addressing the memorial meeting, Deputy Mayor of the Metropolitan City Sunita Dangol said, "The community should be empowered to be the first responders and facilitators of disaster management. The local government does this work. The federal and provincial governments should support capacity building at the local level. From this point of view, all levels of government have an equal role."
The Earthquake Safety Day has been observed every year since 2055 BS to commemorate the earthquake that occurred at 2:24 pm on January 15, 1934 AD.
Those who survived a scary experience of the most devastating earthquake of 1934 AD in Nepal are quite a few now. However, the present generation has experienced a similar dreadful moment in 2015, 'Gorkha Earthquake'.
Besides, the earthquake that occurred with its epicenter in Tibet (China) some days ago had shaken the territory of Kathmandu and other areas, reminding the people of the earthquake of nine years ago.
It may be noted that the Earthquake Safety Day Guidelines 2071 BS was also formulated to make the Earthquake Safety Day systematic and effective in a way that maintains uniformity across the country.
Director General at the Department, Machakaji Maharjan said that the key lesson of the earthquake was to make strong preparations to stay safe from the earthquake and also to strengthen our house structures.
"The lesson learned from the earlier earthquakes is to reduce seismic risk," he said, adding, "The structures we build for this must be earthquake resistant."
Emphasizing on the spectacular role of the media and all other sectors to increase public awareness, he called for the wider education to minimize earthquake risk.
"Construction of safe buildings is a must to reduce the risk of earthquake and for this, the government-issued National Building Code should be fully implemented," he said, adding, "It is equally important to put in place effective and rapid search and rescue and keep immediate relief assistance in ready position by carrying out assessment of post-disaster risk".
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