Aai Bahadur Rai, centenary of Bodu

  

Elisabeth and Jean Claude Raimbault met a centenarian who lived through the 1934 earthquake in Bodu, one of the hamlets of Rapcha.

The 2015 earthquake destroyed his house.

For him, the 2015 earthquake was stronger than the one in 1934.

 

In 1934, there weren’t as many houses as there are now. There were fewer of them and they were simpler because they didn’t have floors. Their roofs were thatched and the walls were made of wood (bamboo). They weren’t destroyed very much.
But there were landslides and a lot of trees fell. This man remembers that one person’s leg was broken in a landslide when a rock hit his leg.

In 1934, the movement was very strong, but it lasted 40 to 45 seconds and there were no aftershocks. In 2015, the earthquake lasted longer and there were several types of tremor: it rotated, shook and there were many aftershocks.
His house and his son’s house are damaged. His house is not badly damaged, but his son’s is very badly damaged.

Aai Bahadur Rai, centenary of Bodu
Interview with Aai Bahadur Rai, Bodu centenarian
Interview with Aai Bahadur Rai
JC Raimbault – November 2015