Nepal earthquake kills hundreds and sparks Everest avalanche

A powerful earthquake struck Nepal on Saturday, killing at least 906 people across four countries as the violently shaking earth toppled houses, levelled centuries-old temples and triggered avalanches on Mount Everest.

In this image from AP video people search in a buildings rubble in Kathmandu, Nepal after a strong earthquake hit the area Saturday April 25, 2015. Image by (AP video via AP)

It was the worst tremor to hit the country in over 80 years. At least 876 people were confirmed dead in Nepal, according to the police. Another 20 were killed in India, six in Tibet and two in Bangladesh. Two Chinese citizens died at the Nepal-China border. The death toll is almost certain to rise, said officials.

It was a few minutes before noon when the quake, with a preliminary magnitude of 7.8, began to rumble across the densely populated Kathmandu Valley.

It rippled through the capital Kathmandu and spread in all directions – north toward the Himalayas and Tibet, south to the Ganges plain, east toward the Brahmaputra delta of Bangladesh and west toward the city of Lahore in Pakistan.

Volunteers help with rescue work at the site of a building that collapsed after an earthquake in Kathmandu, Nepal, Saturday, April 25, 2015. Image by (AP Photo/ Niranjan Shrestha)

A magnitude-6.6 aftershock hit about an hour later, and smaller aftershocks continued to jolt the region for hours. Residents ran out of homes and buildings in panic. Walls tumbled, trees swayed, power lines came crashing down and large cracks opened up on streets and walls. And clouds of dust began to swirl all around.

“Our village has been almost wiped out. Most of the houses are either buried by landslide or damaged by shaking,” said Vim Tamang, a resident of Manglung village near the epicentre. He said half of the village people are either missing or dead. “All the villagers have gathered in the open area. We don’t know what to do. We are feeling helpless,” he said when contacted by telephone.

Meteorologists forecast rain and thunderstorms for Saturday night and Sunday.

In this photo released by China’s Xinhua News Agency, a collapsed building is seen in Nepal’s capital Kathmandu Saturday, April 25, 2015. A strong earthquake shook Nepal’s capital and the densely populated Kathmandu Valley before noon Saturday, causing extensive damage with toppled walls and collapsed buildings. Image by (Zhou Shengping/Xinhua via AP)

Within hours of the quake, hospitals began to fill up with dozens of injured people. Many came to the main hospital in central Kathmandu. Among them was Pushpa Das, a labourer, ran from the house when the first quake struck but could not escape a collapsing wall that injured his arm.

“It was very scary. The earth was moving … I am waiting for treatment but the (hospital) staff is overwhelmed,” he said. As he spoke dozens more people arrived with injuries, mostly from falling bricks.

Following the quake, Kathmandu’s international airport was shut down.

The quake will put a huge strain on the resources of the 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, is heavily reliant on tourism, principally trekking and Himalayan mountain climbing.

A mountaineering guide, Ang Tshering, said an avalanche swept the face of Mt Everest after the earthquake, and government officials said at least eight climbers were killed and 30 injured. Their nationalities were not immediately known.

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

(Press Association)