Toyota faces a shortage of 30 components. That is much better than the 500 it lacked shortly after the quake, but it only takes one missing part to bring an assembly line stuttering to a halt.

For the past week they have endured torrential rain and outbreaks of diarrhoea to bring the capital, Kathmandu, and the rest of the country, to a halt.

That would bring the German growth engine to a sudden halt. The threat to one of the world's leanest and largest economies is a major reason world markets are now in turmoil.