A
deadly magnitude 7.3 earthquake has struck Nepal, two weeks after a
devastating quake killed more than 8,000 people in the Himalayan nation,
the United States Geological Survey (USGS) has reported.
Officials said so far, at least 42 people had been killed and 1,117
injured in the new quake in Nepal, which the USGS initially reported as
magnitude 7.1, before later upgrading it to magnitude 7.3.
In addition, the national disaster management authority in India said 17 died there.
The quake, which struck 18km southeast of Kodari, near the base camp
for Mt Everest, was measured at a shallow depth of about 18km. A series
of aftershocks - including one 6.3 magnitude tremor - later hit in the
same area, the USGS reported.
At least 19 buildings have collapsed, officials said, including 10 in Kathmandu.
Police issued a public warning, calling for people to stay in open
areas and to send text messages instead of making calls, to prevent the
network from becoming jammed.
Al Jazeera's Annette Ekin, reporting from Kathmandu, said that there was "utter panic" in the capital following the quake.
"The earth just started rolling. Everyone ran out onto the streets
and all of the shops are now shuttered," she said, adding that the quake
seemed to last about 30 seconds.
A woman who works for a finance company in Thamel, in Kathmandu, told
Al Jazeera that she had clung to a pillar inside her building when the
quake struck.
"I was screaming. It felt like the house was falling," she said.
Al Jazeera's Andrew Simmons, also reporting from Kathmandu, said the
quake was so powerful that it made the building he was in "feel like
jelly".
Tremors were felt in northern parts of neighbouring India, Afghanistan and Indonesia.
Two hours after the quake struck, our correspondent Ekin said that no one in Kathmandu appeared willing to go back indoors.
"Everyone is outside in the streets. At my hotel, all of the staff
and guests are sitting around outside, waiting for more information,"
she said.
Ekin later went to Kathmandu's Nayabazar district, where a four-storey building had collapsed.
While there were unconfirmed reports of people trapped under the
rubble, she said authorities outside the building said no one had been
killed.
Kathmandu's airport has been closed, following the quake.
A 7.8-magnitude earthquake struck on April 25, killing at least 8,046 people and injuring more than 17,800.
Nepal earthquake: Dozens die in new tremor near Everest
A
major earthquake has struck eastern Nepal, near Mount Everest, two
weeks after more than 8,000 people died in a devastating quake.
At least 37 people have been killed and more than 1,000 injured, officials say. At least 17 have also died in India.
The
latest earthquake hit near the town of Namche Bazaar and sent thousands
of panicked residents on to the streets of Nepal's capital, Kathmandu. It had a magnitude of 7.3, compared with the 7.8 of the 25 April quake.
The
latest quake struck at 12:35 Nepali time (06:50 GMT) and was centred
about 76km (47 miles) east of Kathmandu, in a rural area close to the
Chinese border.
The quake was felt in northern India, Tibet and
Bangladesh. India's home ministry said 16 people had been killed in the
state of Bihar, and one more in Uttar Pradesh. Officials in China said
one person was confirmed dead in Tibet. Nepal quake as it happened Read eyewitnesses' account of the earthquake
Rescue
helicopters have been sent to districts east of Kathmandu, that are
believed to be worst hit. Police in Charikot, 80km north-east of the
capital, said 20 people had died there.
A spokesman for Nepal's government told the BBC that 31 of the country's 75 districts had been affected.
Prime
Minister Sushil Koirala called for "courage and patience" and urged all
those who had assisted Nepal since the 25 April quake "to once again
extend your helping hand".
At the scene: Olivia Lang, BBC News, Kathmandu
A
frantic rescue effort took place in the Gongabu area of Kathmandu,
where a four-storey building collapsed, falling on to an internet shop.
Soldiers
from the Nepali army and international rescue teams stood amid the
destruction, pulling away the rubble as they searched for two children.
An eyewitness said he believed the children were between nine and 13
years old, and he'd seen them in the area shortly before the building
came crashing down.
A tense crowd stood by, watching the rescue workers balance precariously on the debris.
One rescue worker said a dog they had brought there hadn't picked up a scent, but that they would continue the search. The
BBC's Yogita Limaye, who was in Nepal's mountains when the latest
earthquake struck, said: "The earth shook and it shook for a pretty long
time.
"I can completely understand the sense of panic. We have
been seeing tremors - it's been two-and-a-half weeks since the first
quake. But this one really felt like it went on for a really long time.
People have been terrified."
At
least four people were killed in the town of Chautara, east of
Kathmandu, where a number of buildings are reported to have collapsed.
The International Organisation for Migration said bodies were being pulled from rubble there.
Krishna Gyawali, the chief district officer for Chautara, said there had been a number of landslides.
Landslides
were also reported by Save the Children in Sindhupalchok and Dolakha. A
spokeswoman told the BBC its staff had been "dodging huge rocks rolling
off the hillside". Home
Minister Bam Dev Gautam said: "Many houses have collapsed in Dolakha...
there is a chance that the number of dead from the district will go
up."
The BBC's Navin Singh Khadka says the new earthquake has
brought down more houses and lodges in the Everest region but that local
officials report very few tourists are still in the area following the
25 April quake.
A nurse in Namche Bazaar, Rhita Doma Sherpa, told
Reuters: "The school building is cracked and bits of it, I can see, they
have collapsed. It was lunchtime. All the kids were outside."
The
latest quake struck at a depth of 15km (9.3 miles), according to the US
Geological Survey - the same depth as the April quake. Shallow tremors
are more likely to cause greater damage at the surface.
Tuesday's earthquake is likely to be one of the largest to hit Nepal, which has suffered hundreds of aftershocks since 25 April.
More buildings were brought down in Kathmandu following the damage of the 25 April quake
When the earthquake struck, people in Kathmandu ran out on to the streets
Rescuers work amid the latest quake damage in Kathmandu
Quake damage on Tuesday in Sankhu, 10km east of the capital
The 7.3 quake was followed by six aftershocks of magnitude 5.0 or higher.
One tremor that hit 30 minutes later, centred on the district of Ramechhap, east of Kathmandu, had a magnitude of 6.3.
Analysis: Jonathan Amos, science correspondent, BBC News
Scientists are already producing some preliminary analyses of Tuesday's quake.
The
epicentre this time is about 80km (50 miles) east-north-east of
Kathmandu, halfway to Everest. On 25 April, the big quake began 80km to
the north-west of the capital.
In April, we saw the fault boundary
rupture eastwards for 150km (93 miles). And the immediate assessment
suggests Tuesday's tremor has occurred right at the eastern edge of this
failure.
In that context, this second earthquake was almost
certainly triggered by the stress changes caused by the first one.
Indeed, the US Geological Survey had a forecast for an aftershock in
this general area.
Its modelling suggested there was 1-in-200
chance of a M7-7.8 event occurring this week. So, not highly probable,
but certainly possible.
Quake experts often talk about "seismic
gaps", which refer to segments of faults that are, to some extent,
overdue a quake. Tuesday's big tremor may well have filled a hole
between what we saw on 25 April and some historic events - such as those
in 1934, that occurred further still to the east.
Unsettled Earth - http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-32701385
April 2015– NEPAL – Rescue
workers seeking to reach people who desperately need help in
earthquake-ravaged Nepal face myriad obstacles -- and the weather is
only making things worse. In the district of Gorkha, where the
7.8-magnitude quake was centered, a large storm rumbled over the
mountainous terrain Tuesday afternoon. “There was thunder and lightning
-- water was rushing down the road where I was standing,” said Matt
Darvas, an emergency communications officer for the humanitarian group
World Vision. “That essentially shut down helicopter missions for the
entire afternoon, except for a small window before sunset,” Darvas,
who's currently in the main town in Gorkha, told CNN on Wednesday.
The
canceled helicopter flights meant fewer airdrops of vital supplies to
devastated villages and dashed hopes of rescues for injured people in
isolated locations. Nepalese authorities have so far said 5,016 people
died and more than 10,000 were injured as a result of the massive
earthquake that struck Saturday. But officials have warned the death
toll is expected to rise. Two neighboring countries, India and China,
have reported totals of 72 and 25 deaths from the quake, respectively.
The frequent downpours in Nepal have made it harder for emergency
workers to help the injured. CNN's Dr. Sanjay Gupta was at an army field
hospital in Kathmandu, the capital, when the heavens opened Tuesday.
“The rain has arrived and in many cases this is the worst-case
scenario,” he said. “This is what they were hoping wouldn't happen.”
Pieces of tape held patches in the ceiling as water threatened to bubble
in; sheets of canvas served as walls. Gupta said it was “kind of
remarkable what they've been able to do” at the makeshift hospital. Over
three days, the medical staff there had treated 617 patients and saved
586 of them.
Arrival of the Monsoon Rains:
The harsh weather intensifies the hardships for the countless Nepalis
who are sleeping out in the open because their homes were destroyed or
they don't feel safe inside buildings amid continuing aftershocks. The
rain also increases the risk of landslides and mudslides across rugged
terrain already destabilized by the earthquake's tremors. Two landslides
were reported Tuesday afternoon in the Langtang region, a popular
trekking area north of Kathmandu. As many as 200 people were feared to
be missing in each of the two landslides, officials said. Foreigners are
among the missing from one of them, said Gautam Rimal, a senior
official in Rasuwa district. He said 210 people had been rescued from
the area Wednesday by government helicopters. According to army
officials, dozens of foreigners are among those to have been rescued
from the Dhunche area, near Langtang, in the past three days. Other
victims, including foreigners, still wait to be brought out. –CNN
We were saddened to hear of the more than 3,000 5,000 people killed and the many more injured in Saturday’s devastating 7.8 magnitude earthquake. We want to help, and we know you want to help, too.
We’ve done some research[1] and found two non-profits that contribute 99% of their donations MAP International and Direct Relief. We worked with Direct Relief to bring reddit contributions of over $185,000 directly to Haiti in 2010.
We’re scheduling AMAs with the teams at MAP International and Direct
Relief to share more information about how they work and what they’re
doing to help.
Here are some additional resources for information:
/r/Nepal’s longer list of non-profits,
reddit’s live feed with ongoing real-time news updates and images, and
Google person finder for found and missing persons.
Let’s try to raise at least as much as we did for Haiti to help
earthquake victims in Nepal. There has already been an outpouring of
support from redditors across the world, so consider this blog post a
request to funnel that energy into impact. We’ll be working with these
partner non-profits to bring you all as many updates as we can about how
your donations are being used to help all those affected by this
disaster.
Just like we did five years ago after the Haiti earthquake, we’re
kicking off this initiative with a donation from reddit inc. for $2,000.
Time and time again, the communities that make up reddit have risen to
the occasion and we have every reason to believe that you all will do it
yet again. Let’s help the people of Nepal with more than just our
upvotes (but if that’s all you can afford, spreading the word about this
fundraiser is a good place to start).
[1] Charity Navigator ranks
both as 4-star, their top rating. Map International scored 99.94 with
99.2% of contributions going directly to aid, and Direct Relief scored
99.71 out of 100 points with 99% of contributions going directly to aid.
Importantly, both received scores of 100 for transparency.
LONDON (AP) — There is still time to save lives — that's why governments and aid agencies Sunday rushed doctors, volunteers and equipment to Nepal without waiting for the dust to settle.
U.N. spokeswoman Orla Fagan, who is heading to Nepal, said preventing the spread of disease is one of the most important tasks facing aid workers who are arriving.
"There are 14 international medical teams on the way and either 14 or 15 international search-and-rescue teams on the way," she said. "They need to get in as soon as possible. They will use military aircraft to get them into Nepal."
Diarrhea was already a growing problem and a measles outbreak was feared, with vaccines in short supply, the U.N. warned in a report.
Substantial logistical hurdles remain, but there were hopeful signs as Kathmandu's international airport reopened after Saturday's crushing earthquake, though there were still delays as aftershocks continued. Some aid vehicles were able to travel overland from Indian to the stricken Nepalese city of Pokhara.
"That means supplies could potentially come in overland from India. That is a positive sign," said Ben Pickering, Save the Children's humanitarian adviser in Britain. "The airport opening is a small miracle."
He cautioned that chaotic conditions may create a bottleneck at the airport as governments and aid agencies try to bring in personnel and supplies in the coming days.
The need is great: UNICEF said Sunday that nearly 1 million children in areas affected by the earthquake are in "urgent need" of humanitarian assistance. UNICEF staff reported dwindling water supplies, power shortages and communications breakdowns.
Celebrities like singer Shakira sent tweets appealing for help for UNICEF. The mobile payment company Square created a "cashtag" to donate: cash.me/$unicef. PayPal announced it was waiving fees for donations to several aid organizations.
Information was still lacking about conditions at the earthquake's epicenter, Pickering said.
"Going forward it's about access to the epicenter, and helicopters are the key, but it's not clear whether they can be sourced and whether the high altitude is a problem," he said, adding that Save the Children has emergency kits pre-positioned in three warehouses in Nepal and plans to distribute bedding, buckets and other basic supplies to 2,000 families as quickly as possible.
Other charities face similar roadblocks.
International Search and Rescue Germany said a team of 52 relief workers including doctors, experts trained in searching for people buried under rubble and several dog squads are flying Sunday. The team will bring a mobile medical treatment center.
Spokesman Stefan Heine said the priority was to get to the scene of the quake as quickly as possible to find those still alive.
They will be supported by numerous governments that have announced plans to send aid worth millions of dollars.
The Pentagon said a U.S. military plane departed Sunday morning for Nepal carrying 70 personnel, including a U.S. Agency for International Development disaster assistance response team, an urban search and rescue team from Fairfax, Virginia, and 45 tons of cargo. California was also sending a team of 57 urban search and rescue workers.
The United Arab Emirates deployed an 88-member search-and-rescue team to Nepal Sunday, and the Emirates Red Crescent also sent a team.
The Israeli military said it is sending a 260-member mission to Nepal to provide immediate search-and-rescue help and medical aid.
"An advanced multi-department medical facility, equipped with approximately 95 tons of humanitarian and medical supplies from Israel and a medical staff of 122 doctors, nurses and paramedics, will be rapidly established in the city of Katmandu to provide medical care for disaster casualties," the Israeli military said.
European nations deployed as well: France said it would send 11 rescuers on Sunday; Britain announced that an advance team of eight had been sent and that a 5 million pound ($7.6 million) aid package would be available under a rapid response plan; Italy deployed a team of experts from its Civil Protection Department as well as it foreign crisis team; and the Swiss Foreign Ministry said a team of experts including a doctor, a building surveyor and water quality technician had left for Nepal on Sunday.
Poland is sending a rescue team to Nepal of 81 firefighters, together with heavy equipment and several dogs, as well several medics. The medics are expected in Nepal on Monday morning. The firefighters were delayed by aftershocks and confusion at Kathmandu's airport, said Pawel Fratczak, spokesman for firefighters. He said they are now due to arrive Monday afternoon.
Canada sent an advance unit from its urban disaster search and rescue team, along with medical personnel and humanitarian relief supplies.
Volunteers from various British charities gathered at London's Heathrow Airport getting ready for overnight flights to the Nepal region.
Gary Francis, leader of the Search and Rescue Assistance in Disasters group, said the organization was bringing in enough tents, food and water to operate self-sufficiently for 15 days.
They were bring in "a vast array" of equipment including sound and vibration detectors, seismic listening devices, and cutting equipment, with an eye toward finding survivors.
"Once we are there we've got the ability to carry out a coordination role or urban search and rescue looking for survivors trapped in collapsed buildings," he said.
U.N. humanitarian chief Valerie Amos said in a statement Sunday evening that the full picture of destruction and suffering would only appear worse "as humanitarian workers reach the more remote areas near the epicenter of the earthquake." She said "entire areas have been flattened" and that time is of the essence in search and rescue efforts.
April 2015 – NEPAL – A massive 7.8magnitude
earthquake has struck Nepal less than 50 miles from the capital,
Kathmandu, the U.S. Geological Survey said Saturday. More than 3218 people
have been reported killed. The death toll could rise higher as more
people are rescued from collapsed buildings. Witnesses said people were
killed and injured, and historic buildings in Kathmandu had been brought
down. CNN’s Manesh Shrestha, who was himself injured, said he saw five
bodies at a hospital. People with severe injuries were being treated
outside, with doctors administering CPR on at least one person, Shrestha
said. “It’s quite chaotic,” he said. Avalanches were reported on Mount
Everest.
The quake occurred at a depth of less
than two miles, which is considered shallow, and potentially more
damaging than quakes emanating from deeper down. The USGS previously
rated the temblor at 7.5 magnitude but later upgraded the strength. The
USGS reported aftershocks at strengths of 6.6 and 5.1. The shaking was
felt by people who contacted the USGS as “severe” to “violent,” nearly
the highest rating on the intensity scale. Tremors were felt as far as
New Delhi, more than 200 miles away in neighboring India. An official
said it was felt there at magnitude 5.0.
The shaking was rated as “strong” to
“severe” on the USGS ShakeMap. CNN sister network CNN-IBN is reporting
that buildings are down and roads are out. IBN reporter K. Dhiksit
looked out his window in Kathmandu and saw the walls of many buildings
down. As he watched, an aftershock rattled his street. He said he heard
“big booming sounds,” as well. People ran out into the streets, he said.
Photos of caved-in and toppled buildings appeared on social media.
India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi said in a tweet, “We are in the
process of finding more information and are working to reach out to
those affected, both at home & in Nepal.” Kanak Masni, a journalist
in Kathmandu, told CNN by telephone that this appeared to be “the most
massive earthquake to hit central Nepal since 1934.” –CNN
Avalanche on Mt. Everest: An
avalanche swept the face of Mt. Everest after the massive earthquake
struck Nepal on Saturday, a senior mountaineering guide, injuring at
least 30 people. The avalanche apparently struck between the Khumbu
Icefall, a rugged area of collapsed ice and snow, and the base camp
where most climbing expeditions are, said Ang Tshering of the Nepal
Mountaineering Association.
Tshering said details were unclear
because communication between the base camp and the rest of the Everest
region was intermittent. Nepal’s Home Ministry said that the 30 people
who were injured were at the base camp. –ABC News
Dangerous seismic region:Seismologists
have long feared a big earthquake in western Nepal, where there is
pent-up pressure between tectonic plates grinding up against one
another. Though there have been a series of earthquakes in the region
over the last century, none resulted in a full release of seismic
energy, said Ganesh K. Bhattari, a Nepali expert on earthquakes now
living in Denmark. Photographs posted on social media showed people
digging in the debris of collapsed structures. Kashish Das Shrestha, a
photographer, said people were trapped in the rubble and could be heard
crying out as rescuers tried to make their way into buildings.
“Everywhere there are people on the streets, people crying, people stuck
in rubble, people trying to help,” Mr. Shrestha said. He described
severe damage to parts of the palace complex in Vasanthapura Square, the
site of palaces and temples that date to the 11th century. The old
section of the city is a warren of narrow lanes and historic structures.
“Oh my God, the entire Vasanthapura is in rubble,” Mr. Shrestha said.
Hospitals in Katmandu were reporting
the arrival of patients with broken limbs. For hours after the
earthquake, many residents sat in the road, afraid to go back indoors.
Many said they would spend the night outside, despite the cold. The
earthquake set off avalanches on Mount Everest, where several hundred
trekkers were attempting an ascent, according to climbers there. Via
Twitter, Alex Gavan, a hiker at base camp, described “huge earthquake
then huge avalanche,” and “running for life from my tent.” Nima Namgyal
Sherpa, a tour guide at base camp, described one avalanche as “huge” and
said it had caused many injuries. “Many camps have been destroyed by
the shake and wind from the avalanche,” Mr. Sherpa, the base camp
manager for Asian Treks, wrote in a post on Facebook. “All the doctors
here are doing our best to treat and save lives.” Two people died on
Mount Everest after the earthquake, and eight more were badly injured,
said Tulasi Prasad Gautam, an official in the state tourism department.
Tremors from the quake were felt across
northern India, rattling bookcases and light fixtures as far away as
Delhi. Electricity was switched off for safety reasons in the state of
Bihar, where three deaths were reported in one district, Rajiv Pratap
Rudy, India’s minister of skill development, told reporters in New
Delhi. Two other deaths were reported in a second nearby district.
Historically, the region has been the site of the largest earthquakes in
the Himalayas. A 2005 earthquake in Kashmir and a 1905 earthquake in
Kangra resulted in a death toll of more than 100,000 people, according
to the United States Geological Survey. –NY Times
By BINAJ GURUBACHARYA and MUNEEZA NAQVI | April 26, 2015
KATHMANDU, Nepal (AP) — Tens of thousands of people spent the night in the open under a chilly and thunderous sky after a powerful earthquake devastated Nepal on Saturday, killing at least 1,500 across the region, collapsing modern houses and ancient temples and triggering a landslide on Mount Everest. Officials warned the death toll would rise as more reports came in from far-flung areas.
Strong aftershocks continued to jolt the region as the rescue operation got into full swing at daybreak Sunday, with workers sending out tents and relief supplies in trucks and helicopters. Most areas were without power and water.
The death toll had reached 1,430, including 348 in Kathmandu alone, said Inspector Yuvraj Khadka of Nepal's national police force. The magnitude 7.8 earthquake, which originated outside the capital, was the worst tremor to hit the poor South Asian nation in over 80 years. It was strong enough to be felt all across the northern part of neighboring India, Bangladesh, Tibet and Pakistan, where a total of 60 people died.
"There were at least three big quakes at night and early morning. How can we feel safe? This is never-ending and everyone is scared and worried," said Sundar Sah. "I hardly got much sleep. I was waking up every few hours and glad that I was alive."
As Nepal trembled, residents fled homes and buildings in panic. Walls tumbled, trees swayed, power lines came crashing down and large cracks opened up on streets and walls. Clouds of dust began to swirl all around.
Within hours of the quake, hospitals had filled up with hundreds of injured people, and by Sunday, their numbers swelled to nearly 5,000. With organized relief and rescue lacking, many survivors were brought to hospitals by friends and relatives in motorized rickshaws, flatbed trucks and cars. Residents used their bare hands, crowbars and other tools to dig through rubble and rescue survivors.
More than two dozen aftershocks jolted the area after the first quake, which struck just before noon. At the time, Shrish Vaidya, who runs an advertising agency, was in his two-story house outside Kathmandu with his parents.
"It is hard to describe. The house was shaking like crazy. We ran out and it seemed like the road was heaving up and down," Vaidya, 46, told The Associated Press. "I don't remember anything like this before. Even my parents can't remember anything this bad."
Once the first shaking stopped, Vaidya thought his family could return indoors by evening. But the jolts kept coming, and they felt safer outdoors.
"It's cold and windy so we are all sitting in the car listening to the news on FM radio," he said. "The experts are saying it's still not safe to go back inside. No one can predict how big the next aftershock will be."
So the family ate dinner outside with the headlights of their car providing light. Vaidya was grateful his wife and 10-year-old son were on holiday in the U.S.
In his largely affluent neighborhood of low-rise, sturdy homes in suburban Kathmandu the damage was relatively light. In other parts of the city where the buildings are older and poorly built people were not as lucky.
Forecasts called for rain and thunder showers Sunday and the temperatures were in the mid-50s (14 Celsius), cold enough to make camping outside uncomfortable.
Thousands of people spent the night at Tudikhel, a vast open ground in the middle of Kathmandu, just next to the old city that is lined with historic buildings and narrow lanes. Now it is in ruins.
"We hardly slept through the night. It was cold and it rained briefly and it was uncomfortable, but I am glad I brought my family out to the open," said Ratna Singh, a vegetable vendor who was cuddled under a blanket with his wife and son."
"At least I knew my family were safe. Every time the ground shook at night, I thanked god my family were there with me and safe. I don't think I am going to be sleeping inside the house anytime soon. We are all petrified."
People lay on plastic sheets or cardboard boxes, wrapped in blankets. Mothers kept their children warm; some lit fire with whatever wood they could find. Most were eating instant noodles and cookies.
Prime Minister Sushil Koirala, who was attending a summit in Jakarta, tried to rush back home but made it as far as Bangkok where his connecting flight to Kathmandu was canceled because the capital's international airport was shut down for commercial flights.
Indian Air Force planes were allowed to bring in 43 tons of relief material, including tents and foods, and nearly 200 rescuers, India's External Affairs Ministry spokesman Vikas Swarup said. The planes were returning to New Delhi with Indian nationals who were stranded in Kathmandu. India's state-run Air India announced that it would begin relief flights Sunday.
Hospitals in the Kathmandu Valley were overcrowded, running out of room for storing dead bodies and running out of emergency supplies, the United Nations said in a statement.
"The reports of the devastation are still coming in and the numbers of people killed, injured and affected by this earthquake continue to rise," U.N. chief Ban Ki-Moon said. "It is clear that very many lives have been lost. There has also been significant damage to Nepal's irreplaceable cultural heritage."
While the extent of the damage and the scale of the disaster were yet to be known, the quake will likely put a huge strain on the resources of this poor country best known for Everest, the highest mountain in the world, and its rich Hindu culture. The economy of Nepal, a nation of 27.8 million people, relies heavily on tourism, principally trekking and Himalayan mountain climbing.
A mountaineering guide, Ang Tshering, said an avalanche after the quake swept base camp where expeditions were preparing to scale Everest, flattening tents and killing at least 10 climbers and guides and leaving an unknown number injured and missing and others cut off. Their nationalities were not immediately known.
Carsten Lillelund Pedersen, a Dane who was climbing the Everest with a Belgian, Jelle Veyt, said on his Facebook page that they were at Khumbu Icefall , a rugged area of collapsed ice and snow close to base camp at 5,000 meters (16,500 feet) when the earthquake hit.
"Right now, it is pretty chaotic and we try to help those injured," he said.
Norwegian climber Teodor Glomnes Johansen said that people at base camp were working on saving lives.
"All those who are unharmed organize help with the rescue efforts. Men, women and Sherpas are working side by side. The job right now is to assist the doctors in the camp here," he told Norway's VG newspaper.
The U.S. Geological Survey put the magnitude of the quake at 7.8. It said the quake hit at 11:56 a.m. local time (0611 GMT) at Lamjung, about 80 kilometers (50 miles) northwest of Kathmandu. Its depth was only 11 kilometers (7 miles), the largest shallow quake since the 8.2 temblor off the coast of Chile on April 1, 2014.
The shallower the quake the more destructive power it carries.
A magnitude 7 quake is capable of widespread and heavy damage while an 8 magnitude quake can cause tremendous damage. This means Saturday's quake - with the same magnitude as the one that hit San Francisco in 1906 - was about 16 times more powerful than the 7.0 quake that devastated Haiti in 2010.
The quake occurred at the boundary between the two pieces, or plates, of Earth's crust, one of which supports India to the south and the other Eurasia to the north. The Indian plate is moving at 45 millimeters (1.7 inches) a year under the Eurasian plate, and this results in earthquakes once every 500 year on an average, said Marin Clark, a geophysicist at University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.
So the quake was "definitely not a surprise," she said. Over millions of years, such quakes have led to the uplift of the Himalayas. Nepal suffered its worst recorded earthquake in 1934, which measured 8.0 and all but destroyed the cities of Kathmandu, Bhaktapur and Patan.
The power of Saturday's tremors brought down several buildings in the center of the capital, the ancient Old Kathmandu, including centuries-old temples and towers.
Among them was the nine-story Dharahara Tower, one of Kathmandu's landmarks built by Nepal's royal rulers as a watchtower in the 1800s and a UNESCO-recognized historical monument. It was reduced to rubble and there were reports of people trapped underneath.
Hundreds of people buy tickets on weekends to go up to the viewing platform on the eighth story, but it was not clear how many were up there when the tower collapsed. Video footage showed people digging through the rubble of the tower, looking for survivors.
The Kathmandu Valley is listed as a World Heritage site and is a collection of seven locations around Nepal's capital that reflect the country's rich religious history. The Buddhist stupas, public squares and Hindu temples are some of the most well-known sites in Kathmandu, and now some of the most deeply mourned.
The head of the U.N. cultural agency, Irina Bokova, said in a statement that UNESCO was ready to help Nepal rebuild from "extensive damage, including to historic monuments and buildings of the Kathmandu Valley."
Nepali journalist and author Shiwani Neupane tweeted: "The sadness is sinking in. We have lost our temples, our history, the places we grew up."
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Naqvi reported from New Delhi. Associated Press writers Munir Ahmed in Islamabad, Jan M. Olsen in Copenhagen and Seth Borenstein in Washington, D.C. contributed to this report.
