Nepal is very small country that is extremely popular with tourists due to attractions such as the Himalayan Mountains and particularly, Mount Everest. Nepal is one of three countries in the world seismologists say is most prone to experience a massive earthquake. On the 25th of April those dire predictions came true.

The country was rocked by an earthquake that measured 7.8 on the Richter scale and caused massive destruction to property and human life in Nepal’s capital city of Kathmandu. The Nepalese government was not fully equipped to handle the devastation and had to rely on international relief and rescue efforts to help its citizens. More than 8,000 people lost their lives, 18,000 were injured and the country’s electricity and water supply was severely affected.

The people of Kathmandu were forced to sleep out of their houses as more than 50 aftershocks rocked the city on a consistent basis and spread fear of another possible earthquake. Two weeks after the earthquake, the Nepalese people slowly try to put their worlds back together and continue with life. Nepal’s casino industry stood up and contributed towards help and relief efforts that were being carried out.

Nepalese casinos were determined not to let the earthquake get the better of them and have decided to open their doors to customers in an effort to help them get back to normal life. Casino Mahjong which is located at the Hotel Crown Plaza Soaltee confirmed that both its hotel and casino operations have resumed and it would continue to operate as it did in the past. The Casino Royale and the Casino Shangri-La have also kick-started operations.

The Silver Heritage Group which runs the casino at Shangri-La resort Kathmandu also contributed to relief efforts. A representative of the group released a statement which read “Silver Heritage and Happy World have already sent out 8,000kg of relief supplies to Gorka, very close to the epicenter in Nepal, and we plan to continue to help the community with donations of food and medical supplies. In addition, Silver Heritage and Happy World will continue to donate a percentage of net income from its operations once re-opened to help community projects”.

Even though the casino industry in Nepal has opened its doors, it will take quite awhile before business resumes as usual. Nepal’s tourism will most certainly be affected by the massive earthquake and it will take a number of months for Nepal to repair the destruction and damage caused by the earthquake. While casinos continue to remain positive that things will return to normal, the country experienced another earthquake on the 12th of May and once again caused panic in the country.

The earthquake measured 7.3 on the Richter scale and was located near Mount Everest. It is still too early to get a confirmation on the full extent of damages or the cost involved in repairing and restoring devastated infrastructure – not to mention the loss of cultural sites dated back to antiquity. The casino industry might have to once again shutdown operations and focus on increases its relief efforts to combat the second earthquake.