Ninety-nine percent of the deaths in the Gorkha earthquake last year were caused by falling non-structural objects inside homes,  the country’s leading earthquake research organisation, National Society for Earthquake Technology, has claimed.

“Our research has shown that 99 percent of the deaths were caused by falling and breaking of objects like furniture,” said Khadga Sen Oli,  advocacy and outreach manager at NSET.

He added that besides building structurally strong houses, firmly fixing all

non-structural objects could be crucial in reducing casualties in times of earthquakes.

The earthquake on April 25, 2015, and its aftershocks had killed nearly 9,000 people, destroyed more than 600,000 houses in different parts of the country. Around 300,000 houses were damaged in the disaster.