A devastating 7.8-magnitude earthquake came at 11:56 in the late morning on Saturday, April 25 2015, shaking Kathmandu, the capital city of Nepal, and causing widespread damage across the lowlands and the Himalayan mountain range. The earthquake, evidence of the dynamic earth, happened along a thrust fault between the Indian crustal plate and the Eurasian plate. Slippage along the fault was as much as ten feet at Kathmandu.


Normal movement is about 1.7 inches (45 millimeters) a year. Strong aftershocks came after the initial earthquake, with a severe magnitude 6.7 one occurring on April 26. Geologists expected the aftershocks to continue for at least a couple months afterward.

Earthquake Caused Huge Avalanche at Everest Base Camp

The major earthquake also shook 29,035-foot Mt. Everest, causing a large avalanche to sweep down steep slopes on Pumori (7,161 meters) southwest of the mountain and obliterating much of 17,290-foot (5,270-meter) Everest Base Camp. At least 19 climbers were killed and over 60 injured at base camp, causing panic among climbers below the Khumbu Icefall, an active and dangerous glacial area.

Over 1,600 People Passed Through Base Camp

It is unknown exactly how many climbers and Sherpas were planning to climb the popular South Col route on Mount Everest, but there were estimates of at least 300 foreign climbers and 400 to 500 Sherpas and other Nepalis. One report says over 1,600 people, including climbers, cooks, guides, and porters, had been through base camp this season.

Avalanches Marooned Climbers at Camp 1 on Everest

New Mexico guide Dave Hahn with RMI Expeditions reported on his blog that the earthquake and avalanche stranded about 180 climbers and Sherpas on the route above the icefall, with most acclimatizing and preparing for their May summit bids. The precarious route through the Khumbu Icefall, the most dangerous part of the route and the scene of last year's tragic avalanche that killed sixteen Sherpas, connects Everest Base Camp with Camp 1. This year's route through the icefall was severely damaged during the earthquake and by subsequent avalanches, effectively marooning the climbers in the Western Cwm, a deep-sided cirque hemmed in by Mt. Everest, Lhotse (8,516 meters), and Nuptse (7,861 meters).

Icefall Doctors Unable to Reestablish Climbing Route

The climbers at Camp 1 and Camp 2 faced lots of uncertainty on Sunday, April 26. The Icefall Doctors, a group of Sherpas who maintain the treacherous route through the icefall with fixed ropes and aluminum ladders, left the mountain after the earthquake and retreated down to Gorak Shep village after their camp was destroyed. Other climbers, Sherpas, and guides attempted to re-establish the route through the crumpled glacier. A helicopter brought guide Willie Benegas and more equipment, including ropes, ice screws and pickets, up to Camp 1 and dropped him off. At the same time, climbers probed the lower part of the icefall for a new stable route that could allow the climbers up high to descend back to base camp, but their effort failed. Elia Saikaly, a filmmaker and climber with 6 Summits Challenge, reported on Facebook: "Sadly, three more Sherpas died in the Icefall, trying to repair the damaged route. There was a subsequent avalanche that took out most of the ladders in the Icefall."  

Guide Dave Hahn Reports from Camp 1

Dave Hahn, who has summitted Everest fifteen times, was at Camp 1 with seven members of his team. Hahn wrote on the RMI blog: "...two of our Sherpa team, Wingen and Sunam, made a valiant effort coming up from the bottom of the Icefall, to see how far they could get before the damage of the earthquake stopped them. They got about a third of the way." Hahn also noted that his group supported a team, including guides Damien Benegas, Jeff Justman and Justin Merle, that came down from the top of the Icefall: "They probably got about a third of the way down; luckily both teams got out safely. There was a massive aftershock this afternoon at about 1 o'clock local time. But it seemed almost as powerful as yesterday's quake. And we are worried, as everybody is, about putting people in the Ice Fall again. That is probably not going to be our exit plan."

Stranded Climbers Feared Another Big Earthquake

After the failure to establish a safe route through the Icefall, the only safe alternative to descend the mountain was by helicopter evacuation, but even that seemed like an uncertain proposition given the deadly catastrophe in the rest of Nepal. The stranded climbers felt trapped and fearful that another earthquake and avalanche could bury their camps. British guide Daniel Mazur, leader of a Summit Guide expedition, tweeted, "Aftershock @ 1pm! Horrible here in camp 1. Avalanches on 3 sides. C1 a tiny island. We worry about Icefall team below. Alive?"

Read Part 2 about the helicopter evacuation of climbers from Camp 1.