Even in the light of recent increases in the extremity of weather, an earthquake's causes can hardly be blamed on human influences. However, the consequences of a quake can illustrate disaster preparedness, and (under the development paradigm) the reaction times of relief personnel. Deaths are estimated to have passed 100, and the reason for the lack of specificity in this estimate is the damage done to already-minimal access to rural areas. Helicopters were prioritized to save trapped individuals and verify safety, so contact with outlying towns to determine any deaths was impossible by the time the article was written.
Ironically enough, in Sikkim efforts to improve local infrastructure may have inadvertently led to a large proportion of the deaths. 17 workers in the process of constructing a hydroelectric dam were killed in the resulting landslides.
((Article at: http://www.voanews.com/english/news/asia/Death-Toll-in-Himalayan-Quake-Reaches-100-130265183.html
Image from: http://frontierindia.net/news/sikkim-earthquake-toll-rises-to-25-killed-as-help-battles-adverse-weather/ ))
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