KATHMANDU: A powerful earthquake struck Nepal on Saturday, killing at least 1,300 people across four countries as the violently shaking ground destroyed houses, levelled centuries-old temples and triggered avalanches on Mt Everest.

It was the worst quake to hit the poor South Asian nation in over 80 years.

There were reports of devastation in outlying, isolated mountainous areas after the midday quake of magnitude 7.9, centred 80km east of Nepal’s second city, Pokhara.

Read: Earthquake triggers avalanche at Everest camp; 10 die

As fears grew of a humanitarian disaster in the impoverished nation of 28 million, an overwhelmed government appealed for foreign help. India was first to respond by sending in military aircraft with medical equipment and relief teams.

A police spokesman said the death toll in Nepal alone had reached 1,341, about half of them in the Kathmandu Valley.

A further 36 fatalities were reported in northern India, 12 in Tibet and four in Bangladesh. Tremors were also felt as far away as Lahore and areas nearby.

The quake was more destructive for being shallow, toppling buildings, opening gaping cracks in roads and sending people scurrying into the open as aftershocks rattled their damaged homes.

Thousands prepared to spend the night outside, setting up makeshift tents, sitting around campfires and eating food provided by volunteers.

Around 300,000 foreign tourists were estimated to be in various parts of Nepal for the spring trekking and climbing season in the Himalayas, and officials were overwhelmed by calls from concerned friends and relatives.

Among the Kathmandu landmarks destroyed by the quake was the 60-metre-high Dharahara Tower, built in 1832 for the queen of Nepal, with a viewing balcony that had been open to visitors for the last 10 years.

A jagged stump just 10 metres high was all that was left of the lighthouse-like structure. As bodies were pulled out of the ruins, a policeman said up to 200 people had been trapped inside.

At the main hospital in Kathmandu, volunteers formed human chains to clear the way for ambulances to bring in the injured.

Across the city, rescuers scrabbled through the rubble of destroyed buildings, among them ancient, wooden Hindu temples.

“I can see three bodies of monks trapped in the debris of a collapsed building near a monastery,” said a tourist. “We are trying to pull the bodies out and look for anyone who is trapped.”

The tremors were felt as far away as New Delhi and other cities in northern India, with reports that they had lasted up to a minute.

Published in Dawn, April 26th, 2015

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