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A powerful earthquake struck Nepal and sent tremors through northern India on Saturday, killing hundreds of people, toppling a historic 19th century tower in Kathmandu and sparking a deadly avalanche on Mount Everest.
The tremors were felt as far away as New Delhi and other northern cities in India, with reports they had lasted up to a minute. A collapse in communications hampered relief efforts, raising fear of a humanitarian disaster across Nepal, a nation of 28 million people.
A police spokesperson said the death toll in that country stood at 1,130. Another 36 deaths were reported in India, four in Bangladesh and 12 in Tibet.
There were reports of devastation in outlying, isolated mountainous areas after the quake, which had a magnitude of 7.9 on the Richter scale, the highest in 81 years. Its epicentre was 80 km east of Nepal's second-largest city, Pokhara.
Indian tourist Devyani Pant was in a coffee shop here with friends when "suddenly, the tables started trembling and paintings on the wall fell on the ground…I screamed and rushed outside", she told Reuters by telephone from the capital, where at least 181 people died.
A tourism official said at least eight people were killed when an avalanche unleashed by the earthquake swept through the Everest base camp for climbers of the world's highest mountain. Choti Sherpa, who works at the Everest Summiteers Association, was unable to call her family and colleagues on the mountain. "Everyone is trying to contact each other but we can't," she said. "We are all very worried."
Tourist trail
Around 300,000 foreign tourists were estimated to be in Nepal for the spring trekking and climbing season. "We are facing a tremendous crisis here and it is hard to even assess what the death toll and extent of the damage could be," said Mohan Krishna Sapkota, a tourism official. "The trekkers are scattered all around the base camp and some had even trekked further up. It is almost impossible to get in touch with anyone."
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For Nepal, political instability weakens the ability of its government to handle a crisis: The country hasn't upgraded its weather forecasting, despite being surprised by unseasonal blizzards last autumn, which killed 32 in the Annapurna massif.
Tower toppled
The revered Dharahara tower collapsed in Kathmandu when the quake erupted, shortly before noon (local time). A policeman said up to 200 people had been trapped in the structure.
Built in 1832 for the queen of Nepal, the tower was a 60-metre-(100-foot)-high landmark open to visitors for the past 10 years. It also had a viewing balcony.
A jagged stump just 10 meters high was all that was left of the lighthouse-like structure. Several bodies were extracted from the ruins.
Kathmandu is home to ancient, wooden Hindu temples. Photographs posted online showed buildings reduced to rubble, with large cracks along roads and residents sitting in the street, holding babies. "I can see three bodies of monks trapped in the debris of a collapsed building near a monastery," said Pant, the Indian tourist. "We are trying to pull the bodies out and look for anyone who is trapped."
Everest avalanche
The Everest avalanches, first reported by climbers, raised fears for those on the world's loftiest peak, a year after a massive snowslide caused the deadliest incident there yet. Romanian climber Alex Gavan said on Twitter there was a "huge avalanche" and "many, many" people were up on the mountain. "Running for life from my tent," he said. "Everest base camp huge earthquake, then huge avalanche."
Another climber, Daniel Mazur, said the base camp had been "severely damaged" and his team was trapped. "Please pray for everyone," he said on his Twitter page.
In April last year, an avalanche just above the base camp on Mount Everest killed 16 Nepali guides.
