Watch the video above: Man trapped under rubble and dead body finally pulled out by rescue workers
TORONTO – Imagine: You’re sitting in your living room or kitchen, and the house begins to shake. Slowly at first, but the intensity rockets quickly. Things fall off shelves, cracks begin to appear along the walls and ceiling as the building is unable to sustain the shaking. You try to run for a door, but soon pieces of your home begin to fall. Suddenly the weight of the brick and stone bear down on you; the dust threatens to choke you.
Somehow you manage to stay alive. And you wait in fear, shouting for help, hoping for someone to hear your pleas.
READ MORE: Understanding earthquakes – Why Nepal was rocked with such a strong one
This is the story of many people who are caught indoors during a major earthquake. While some are rescued within minutes or hours, there are the few who remain trapped for days beneath the rubble — and survive.
Most recently in Nepal, several people were pulled out of the rubble after being trapped for days.
In Kathmandu, rescuers spent hours trying to free a man who was buried beneath rubble of a building that had collapsed: he was trapped next to the body of another victim who had died. Another woman spent 50 hours beneath a building that had collapsed.
WATCH: People rescued from rubble following Nepal earthquake
Though the odds of surviving something like being trapped under rubble for days seem thin, there are stories of those who have been trapped for much longer.
In 2005, Naqsha Bibi was found alive an incredible 63 days after a magnitude-7.6 earthquake rocked Kashmir, Pakistan. The 40-year-old woman was in her kitchen when the earthquake struck and managed to survive on rotten food and rainwater.
Following the 2010 magnitude 7.0 earthquake in Haiti, a 27-year-old man managed to survive for 27 days. And in 2013, after the earthquake in Bangladesh, a man was found 17 days later.
Even a four-month-old baby girl survived alone for three days after the magnitude-9.0 earthquake off the Japanese coast in 2011.
These stories of survival show just how resilient humans can be.
As of April 27, it’s believed that at least 4,000 people died as a result of the magnitude-7.8 earthquake in Nepal. But as time progresses, many hope to hear extraordinary stories of survival, against the odds.
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