On Saturday, April 25, a powerful earthquake with a magnitude of 7.8 hit Nepal. This earthquake was followed by another 7.3 earthquake on Tuesday, May 12. These earthquakes resulted in more than 8,000 deaths and countless injured Nepalese people. Additionally, during efforts to help relieve the disaster, a United States Marine helicopter went missing in rural Nepal just hours after Tuesday’s aftershock.

On Tuesday, a U.S. Marine and Air force team was joined by Nepalese troops for a more thorough search. The helicopter was carrying six U.S. Marines and two Nepalese service members as it delivered aid to Charikot, a village close to the epicenter of Tuesday’s earthquake.

According to a recent interview with Major General John Whistler, an on-site official, “When [the helicopter] went down, whether it got damaged during the set-down process...there are a number of reasons why those beacons and so forth would not operate.” In short, Whistler has claimed that the missing U.S. helicopter will not detract from their ongoing mission to help those injured from the earthquakes.

Although countries worldwide continue to cooperate in this effort to bring relief, many people are still injured, missing, or have lost shelter. Unforeseen tragedies like these earthquakes show how international relations play a major role in solving all kinds of major issues, even if such a process takes time. I hope a quick recovery to those Nepalese who have been injured from these earthquakes, and for the missing U.S. helicopter as well.