On Friday, April 25, Nepal commemorated the 10th anniversary of the catastrophic Gorkha Earthquake with a solemn memorial ceremony at the Dharahara premises in Sundhara, Kathmandu.

A powerful 7.8 magnitude earthquake, with its epicenter in Barpak, Gorkha, claimed nearly 9,000 lives and left more than 22,000 injured. It destroyed over 800,000 homes and severely damaged 1,500 cultural and heritage sites across the country.

Districts including Gorkha, Kathmandu, Bhaktapur, Lalitpur, Kavrepalanchok, Sindhupalchok, and Dolakha bore the brunt of the destruction.

Despite significant international aid and national resolve in the aftermath, the pace of reconstruction has remained sluggish. Many infrastructure projects are still incomplete even a decade later. While luxury apartments and hotels have seen visible progress, the enforcement of updated building codes remains uneven—raising fears about the country’s preparedness for future seismic events.

In the capital, numerous centuries-old structures continue to lean on makeshift wooden supports, a stark reminder of both heritage vulnerability and bureaucratic inertia.

Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli, addressing the ceremony on Friday, acknowledged the limitations that have hindered full-scale recovery. “Our economic situation, budget, and resources are still insufficient for comprehensive reconstruction,” he said.