Margaret River resident still feels the earth shake after Nepal earthquake

Ms Voight was in Kathmandu when the 7.8 magnitude quake struck the country in April killing thousands of people.

She had been in the country for nearly a month managing a volunteer dental clinic in a remote village in the Annapurna region and was on her way back to Australia.

“I was just sitting down to a cup of coffee with a fellow Australian for a meeting about the clinic when our coffee started jumping out of the cup and then things got worse and quite frightening,” she said.

Ms Voigt said she was lucky the building she was in did not fall down.

Her fight or flight instincts were immediate, with Ms Voigt saying she didn’t immediately fear for her life.

“Initially it was just trying to stay upright and then crawl to the doorframe until the tremor finished and then get out of the building,” she said.

Outside, many people were in a state of shock and hysteria as well as people hurt, she said.

“The continuing after tremors was scarier in many ways, as they came infrequently and continued to upset everyone,” she said.

Luckily Ms Voigt was able to stay uninjured as well contact her family back home.

“I was lucky that I could get a message to them immediately but then I was not able to get back in contact with them for a couple of days, so they did not know whether I was still safe,” she said.

The trauma continues for Ms Voigt back in Australia, as she is slowly getting some proper sleep.

“I am slowly recovering from loud unexpected noises and the ground shaking,” she said.

“Living in Kathmandu through the quake and subsequent tremors over a number of days was hard - to sleep or relax in any way at any time, you were always on edge.

“But I was lucky I could leave, I feel guilty about that, I have left my family over there to cope as best they can.”

Ms Voigt’s work hasn’t stopped now she is back in Australia with the second earthquake seriously damaging the area she volunteered in; she is focussing her fundraising efforts for Keep Walking Nepal foundation.

“It was a natural disaster and only a small area of Nepal has been affected – yes badly – but the west of the country is still unaffected,” she said.

“If ever a country needs your support and tourist dollar, it is the coming tourist season starting in September.

“If tourists stay away then so many people will be without jobs on top of everything else.”