Nepal quake death toll climbs over 4300 and may go much higher (Tuesday)

Hundreds of thousands of Nepalis spent another night in the open Monday after a massive quake which killed more than 4,300, as officials warned the final toll could rise sharply once rescuers reach cut-off areas. (Includes drone video)

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Tuesday morning updates

New: Remarkable video footage taken from a drone over Kathmandu.

Everest unchanged

As a student, you may have been asked to memorise the height of Mr Everest, the tallest mountain on earth. It's height is officially 8,848 metres (29,029 ft) above sea level and, you'll be happy to know, that earthquake has not changed it.

Scientists say that Kathmandu may have moved three metres southward though.

Death toll update from AFP

The death toll from a devastating earthquake in Nepal has risen to 4,310, the home ministry said on Tuesday.

A further 7,953 people are now known to have been injured in Saturday's quake, said ministry spokesman Laxmi Prasad Dhakal.

Officials had previously put the death toll at 4,010, while nearly 100 people have also been killed in neighbouring countries.

Nepalis spend third night in open as quake toll passes 4,000

Kathmandu, April 27, 2015 (AFP) – Hundreds of thousands of Nepalis spent another night in the open Monday after a massive quake which killed more than 4,000, as officials warned the final toll could rise sharply once rescuers reach cut-off areas.

With fears rising of food and water shortages, Nepalis were rushing to stores and petrol stations to stock up on essential supplies in the capital Kathmandu, left devastated by Saturday's 7.8-magnitude quake.

Officials say more than 4,100 people are now known to have died, including 4,010 in Nepal – making it the quake-prone Himalayan nation's deadliest disaster in more than 80 years.

More than 90 people have been killed in neighbouring India and China while a further 7,500 people were injured in Nepal.

But senior disaster management official Rameshwor Dangal said the toll in Nepal could jump once rescuers discovered the full extent of devastation in villages outside Kathmandu.

"Rescue operations are underway, and in many places where buildings have collapsed there might be people trapped," Dangal, the home ministry's national disaster management chief, told AFP.

"We are also in the process of getting information from villages, and these will add to the death toll."

Families who work in Kathmandu were packing onto buses, some even sitting on the roofs, leaving the city, many for their home villages to determine the damage there.

Mothers clutching children and men hauling bags were seen bargaining with drivers of the many buses clogging the roads out of the capital.

The exodus came as international rescue teams with sniffer dogs raced to find survivors buried in rubble, and teams equipped with heavy cutting gear and relief supplies landed at the nation's only international airport.

Elisabeth Byrs, a spokeswoman for the UN's World Food Programme, told AFP the agency would launch a "large, massive operation" with the first plane carrying rations set to arrive on Tuesday.

Pledging $10 million in relief to help the victims, US Secretary of State John Kerry said he had been shocked by the "gut-wrenching" images of the death and destruction.

Speaking at the same press conference, Japan's Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida said that Tokyo was sending some $8 million in aid to Nepal.

Earlier stories

Monday afternoon updates

From our online reporters:

Hundreds of doctors nationwide have volunteered to help in Nepal in the wake of the devastating earthquake near Kathmandu on Saturday that has killed at least 3,600 people and injured over 6,500.

The Medical Council of Thailand set up online registration for volunteers, and as of around 2pm Monday a total of 350 doctors had signed their names.

The latest on the overall situation from AFP

Tens of thousands desperate for help in quake-hit Nepal

Kathmandu, April 27, 2015 (AFP) – Tens of thousands of frightened Nepalese huddled in tents desperate for help Monday, two days after a quake killed more than 3,700 people, as international rescue teams with sniffer dogs raced to find survivors buried in the rubble.

Teams equipped with heavy cutting gear and relief supplies were landing round the clock at the country's only international airport on the outskirts of Kathmandu, which has been devastated by Saturday's 7.8 magnitude quake.

Nepal's police now say at least 3,618 people are now known to have died in that country alone – making it the quake-prone Himalayan nation's deadliest disaster in more than 80 years. 6,515 people were injured nationwide.

Families, the sick and elderly packed into parks and other open spaces in Kathmandu after losing their houses, with others too terrified of aftershocks to return home.

"This is a nightmare, why don't these aftershocks stop?" asked 70-year-old Sanu Ranjitkar, clutching her dog and with an oxygen mask strapped to her face, sitting under a tarpaulin.

With just sheets of plastic to protect them from the cold and rain, many said they were desperate for aid and information on what to do next.

"There is just too much fear and confusion," said Bijay Sreshth, as he tried to listen to a radio in the hope of hearing a message from the government.

"We don't know what to do next or for how much longer we are here," said Sreshth, who fled to a park with his three children, wife and mother when the quake hit.

A government official said tonnes of clean water and other essential supplies were needed for the survivors as well as stepped up search and rescue efforts outside the capital.

"We need more helicopters for our rescue operations in rural areas," home minister spokesman Laxmi Prasad Dhakal told AFP.

"We also need supplies of essential goods such as food and clean water to provide relief for survivors," he said.

Saturday's earthquake also killed around 90 people in neighbouring countries, including at least 67 in India and 20 in China.

It triggered an avalanche on Mount Everest, the world's highest mountain, which buried part of base camp and killed at least 18 people.

Reconstruction efforts in impoverished Nepal could cost than $5 billion, or around 20 percent of the country's GDP, according to Rajiv Biswas, Asia Pacific chief economist at business research firm IHS.

Much of the historic centre of the capital Kathmandu is in ruins. The situation for survivors has been exacerbated by power cuts and the country's cell phone network is at breaking point.

Monday morning update

The death toll from the massive Nepal earthquake and aftershocks has now passed 3200.

Sadly, one of the dead includes Marisa Eve Girawong, a 28-year-old Thai-American doctor, who died in an avalanche that struck the base camp area of Mount Everest.

The Thai government has confirmed that 66 Thais in Nepal are safe.

The Bangkok Post reported that Girawong died at the expedition's 17,500-foot elevation base camp. All 15 members of the expedition's climbing team made it safely to Camp 2, where they were awaiting helicopter evacuation.

According her bio on the mountaineering company's site, Girawong, who was born in Thailand, had been a physician's assistant working in a Level 1 emergency room "with a focus on trauma and wilderness medicine" when she joined the Everest expedition earlier this year.

Girawong, an avid rock climber and mountaineer, had been working in the Everest region for more about a year.

20:15 Sunday

The latest from AFP:

Aid groups and governments worldwide intensified efforts Sunday to help earthquake-hit Nepal, but blocked roads, downed power lines and overcrowded hospitals posed formidable challenges in an already poor country.

As the death toll in the Himalayan nation surpassed 2,300, the US together with European and Asian nations sent emergency crews to reinforce those scrambling to find survivors in the devastated capital Kathmandu and in cut-off rural areas.

"Tragically, more bodies are being pulled from collapsed buildings every hour," the Australian Red Cross said in a statement.

"Communication is down in many areas. Widespread destruction, rubble and landslides are preventing access to provide aid in many villages."

15:15 Sunday

6.7 magnitude aftershock as toll tops 2000

Kathmandu, April 26, 2015 (AFP) – A 6.7-magnitude aftershock struck earthquake-devastated Nepal on Sunday, the USGS said, with climbers reporting the tremor triggered more avalanches on Mount Everest.

The latest quake struck northeast of Kathmandu near the border with China at a depth of 10 kilometres (6.2 miles), the US Geological Survey said.

Climber Jim Davidson said he felt the aftershock at Camp One on Everest.

"Just had our biggest aftershock yet here at C1 on Everest. Smaller than original quake but glacier shook & avalanches," he tweeted.

Meanwhile, rescuers in Nepal searched frantically Sunday for survivors of a quake that killed more than 2,000, digging through rubble in the devastated capital Kathmandu and airlifting victims of an avalanche at Everest base camp.

Terrified residents of Kathmandu were woken by fresh aftershocks in the worst disaster to hit the impoverished Himalayan nation in more than 80 years, with many forced to spend the night trying to sleep out on the streets and open ground in tents.

Hospitals were so stretched that medics had to set up tents outside to treat patients.

The historic nine-storey Dharahara tower, a major tourist attraction, was among the buildings brought down Saturday, with at least a dozen bodies recovered from the ruins of the 19th-century tower.

Offers of help poured in from around the world, with the United States and European Union announcing they were sending in disaster response teams.

India flew out its stranded citizens in military planes while a 62-strong Chinese rescue team arrived with sniffer dogs.

National police spokesman Kamal Singh Bam said the number known to have died in Nepal had risen to 1,953 while 4,629 people had been injured.

Officials in India said the toll there now stood at 53, mainly in the eastern state of Bihar, while Chinese state media said 17 people had been killed in the Tibet region.

"We have deployed all our resources for search and rescues," Bam told AFP.

"Helicopters have been sent to remote areas. We are sifting through the rubble where buildings have collapsed to see if we can find anyone."

As rescuers sifted through the huge mounds of rubble, the hospitals were overflowing with victims who suffered multiple fractures and trauma.

"We have treated many people since yesterday, majority children," said Samir Acharya, a doctor at Nepal's Annapurna Neurological Hospital.

"Most patients have head injuries or fractures. Two of our patients died, two are critical."

The Red Cross said it was concerned about the fate of villages near the epicentre of the quake northwest of Kathmandu.

Sunday morning

10:50

Everest climbers hit hard

Kathmandu, April 26, 2015 (AFP) – At least 14 people were killed when an avalanche buried parts of Mount Everest's base camp in Nepal where hundreds of mountaineers have gathered at the start of the annual climbing season, an AFP correspondent has reported from the scene. (Reuters has just reported 17 dead.)

Six helicopters landed at base camp in Nepal, according to the agency's Kathmandu bureau chief Ammu Kannampilly after weather conditions improved overnight.

"People being stretchered out as choppers land – half a dozen this morning," Kannampilly said in a text message.

Google executive Dan Fredinburg was the only climber killed so far identified.

Lawrence You, director of privacy at Google, said Fredinburg was with three other Google employees, who all survived. He added that Google.org was contributing $1 million to response efforts.

Experienced mountaineers said panic erupted at base camp, which had been "severely damaged", while one described the avalanche as "huge".

"Huge disaster. Helped searched and rescued victims through huge debris area. Many dead. Much more badly injured. More to die if not heli asap," tweeted Romanian climber Alex Gavan from base camp.

Gyanendra Kumar Shrestha, an official in Nepal's tourism department, told AFP: "We are trying to assess how many are injured. There might be over 1,000 people there right now, including foreign climbers and Nepalese supporting staff."

8:55

It is morning in Nepal and the full extent of the damage still can be assessed as communications have broken down to many parts of the country after yesterday's 7.8 magnitude earthquake. The death toll has risen to well over 1000 – the Guardian said 1500 early this morning and USA Today and AFP, citing government sources, have just reported that more than 1800 are known dead, 300 in Katmandu. AFP now reports that Home ministry spokesman Laxmi Prasad Dhakal says that 1,805 were reported dead, with at least 4,718 injured. But the overall toll was expected to be much higher, and at least 47 people have died in neighbouring India. Tens of thousands of people spent the night outdoors with temperatures dropping to 12 degrees Celsius in the capital and colder in the countryside. Thunderstorms are forecast for the new few days, complicating the relief effort.

International aid has started to flow in and there will be a massive multinational effort to help the impoverished country of 28 million.

Saturday evening

Nepal quake death toll nears 1000

Kathmandu, April 25, 2015 (AFP) – The death toll from a massive 7.8 magnitude earthquake which devastated large parts of Nepal on Saturday has risen to 876, according to police.

"The toll from the earthquake has jumped to 876, including 524 from the Kathmandu valley," police spokesman Kamal Singh Bam told AFP.

"Rescue efforts are still underway. We fear that the toll might rise as we dig through the rubble."

The earthquake ripped through large parts of the country, toppling office blocks and towers in the panic-stricken capital Kathmandu.

There were also reports of an avalanche at Mount Everest's base camp in Nepal where scores of mountaineers have gathered at the start of the annual climbing season.

While contact with Nepal was sporadic, a senior Nepalese diplomat warned that the final toll could run into many hundreds.

"We have received reports that there is a big loss of property and life in Nepal," Krishna Prasad Dhakal, the deputy chief of mission at Nepal's Embassy in New Delhi, told AFP.

"Possibly hundreds of people have died in various parts of the country, particularly in Kathmandu and Pokhara."

At least three people were known to have died in northern India while buildings in the capital New Delhi had to be evacuated.

The United States Geological Survey and India's meteorological service said the shallow quake struck 81 kilometres (50 miles) northwest of Kathmandu at 0611 GMT, with walls crumbling and families racing outside their homes.

"The walls of houses have collapsed around me onto the road. All the families are outside in their yards huddled together," an AFP reporter said in Kathmandu.

Another resident recounted scenes of panic and mayhem.

"Everything started shaking. Everything fell down. The walls around the main road have collapsed. The national stadium's gates have collapsed," Anupa Shrestha said. Police confirmed that the damage had been extensive.

"Our focus is on rescue in the core areas of Kathmandu where the population is concentrated," said metropolitan police spokesman Dinesh Acharya.

"Many houses and buildings have collapsed," he told AFP.

The quake tore through the middle of highways in the capital and also caused damage to the country's only international airport, in a potential blow to relief efforts.

The airport's general manager, Birendra Prasad Shrestha, said it would remain closed "for safety reasons" at least until later in the afternoon.

Aftershock tremors could be felt more than two hours after the initial quake.

Initially measured at 7.5 magnitude, the quake was later adjusted to 7.9 then downgraded slightly to 7.8 with a depth of 15 kilometres, the USGS said. It hit 68 kilometres east of the tourist town of Pokhara.

Witnesses and media reports said the tremors lasted between 30 seconds and two minutes and were felt across the across the border in India, including in the capital New Delhi.

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