Devastating 7.9-Magnitude Quake Strikes Nepal, Nearly 688 Killed and Rising

Local Editor

A powerful, 7.9-magnitude earthquake shook Nepal's capital and the densely populated Kathmandu Valley before noon Saturday, collapsing houses, leveling centuries-old temples and cutting open roads in the worst tremor in the Himalayan nation in over 80 years.

The death toll in the earthquake has reached 688 including 181 in the capital, Kathmandu alone, according to an official in the Nepalese Home Ministry.

Another 20 were killed in India, six in Tibet and two in Bangladesh. Two Chinese citizens died at the Nepal-China border.

Nevertheless, officials declared that the death toll could rise much higher. "The toll could go up, it may include foreigners as well as Sherpas," the official added.

Furthermore, dozens of people with injuries were being brought to the main hospital in central Kathmandu.

China's state broadcaster said one Chinese tourist was killed in Nepal at the Nepal-China border.

In addition, Bangladesh's Somoy TV station reported that one man was killed in the Bangladesh capital of Dhaka and another in the northwestern district of Pabna, with more than 100 injured following the earthquake.

The earthquake also shook several cities across northern India, and was felt as far away as Lahore in Pakistan. The epicenter was 80 kilometers [49 mile] northwest of Kathmandu.

Several buildings collapsed in the center of the capital, the ancient Old Kathmandu, including centuries-old temples and towers, said resident Prachanda Sual.

Among them was the Dharahara Tower, one of Kathmandu's landmarks built by Nepal's royal rulers in the 1800s and a UNESCO-recognized historical monument. It was reduced to rubble and there were reports of people trapped underneath.

The avalanche apparently struck between the Khumbu Icefall, a rugged area of collapsed ice and snow, and the base camp where most climbing expeditions were, said Ang Tshering of the Nepal Mountaineering Association.

However, Tshering said details were unclear because communication between the base camp and the rest of the Everest region was intermittent.

Hence, national radio warned people to stay outdoors and maintain calm because more aftershocks were feared. A 6.6-magnitude aftershock hit about an hour after the initial quake.

Accordingly, Nepal suffered its worst recorded earthquake in 1934, which measured 8.0 and all but destroyed the cities of Kathmandu, Bhaktapur and Patan.

Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team