By Gopal Sharma and Ross Adkin
KATHMANDU (Reuters) - A powerful earthquake struck Nepal and sent tremors through northern India on Saturday, killing hundreds of people, toppling an historic 19th-century tower in the capital Kathmandu and touching off a deadly avalanche on Mount Everest.
There were reports of devastation in outlying, isolated mountainous areas after the quake struck with a magnitude of 7.9, the worst in 81 years, with its epicentre 50 miles (80 km) east of Nepal's second largest city, Pokhara.
A collapse in communications hampered relief efforts, raising fears of a humanitarian disaster across the impoverished Himalayan nation of 28 million people.
A home ministry official told Reuters said the death toll had reached 758 in Nepal. A further 34 fatalities were reported in northern India and one in Bangladesh. The quake was shallow in depth, intensifying its destructive force.
Indian tourist Devyani Pant was in a Kathmandu coffee shop 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.
"We are now collecting bodies and rushing the injured to the ambulance. We are being forced to pile several bodies one above the other to fit them in."
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, and officials were overwhelmed by calls from concerned friends and relatives.
"We are facing a tremendous crisis here and it is hard to even assess what the death toll and the extent of damage could be," said Mohan Krishna Sapkota, a second 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."
A landlocked nation sandwiched between India and China, popular with adventure tourists, Nepal has had its share of natural disasters. Its worst earthquake in 1934 killed more than 8,500 people.
Political instability weakens the ability of the government to handle a crisis - Nepal has still not upgraded its weather forecasting despite being surprised by unseasonal blizzards last autumn that killed 32 in the Annapurna massif.
In 2001, Nepal burst into global headlines when then-Crown Prince Dipendra gunned down 10 members of his family, including his father, King Birendra Shah, before killing himself.
A Maoist rebellion subsequently asserted power, transformed the kingdom into a republican democracy and abolished the monarchy altogether in 2008. Nepal, however, has yet to agree on a new constitution.
TOWER TOPPLED
The revered Dharara Tower collapsed in Kathmandu when the quake erupted shortly before noon local time. A policeman said that 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 that had been open to visitors for the last 10 years and had a viewing balcony.
A jagged stump just 10 metres high was all that was left of the lighthouse-like structure. Several bodies were extracted from the ruins.
At the main hospital in Kathmandu, people with broken limbs and arms were being rushed in for treatment. Crowds and volunteers formed human chains to clear the way for ambulances to bring in the injured.
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 a 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 yet there.
Romanian climber Alex Gavan said on Twitter that there had been a "huge avalanche" and "many, many" people were up on the mountain. "Running for life from my tent," Gavan said. "Everest base camp huge earthquake then huge avalanche."
Another climber, Daniel Mazur, said Everest base camp had been "severely damaged" and his team was trapped.
"Please pray for everyone," he said on his Twitter page.
An avalanche in April 2014 just above the base camp on Mount Everest killed 16 Nepali guides.
The tremors on Saturday were felt as far away as New Delhi and other northern cities in India, with reports that they had lasted up to a minute.
The U.S. Geological Survey said the quake, initially measured at 7.7 but upgraded to 7.9 magnitude, struck 80 km (50 miles) east of Pokhara. It was only 2 km deep.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi chaired an emergency meeting and dispatched a military air transporter with three tonnes of supplies and a 40-member disaster response team to Nepal. Three more planes were to follow later on Saturday, carrying a mobile hospital and further relief teams.
(Reporting by Gopal Sharma and Ross Adkin in Kathmandu, Andrew MacAskill, Mayank Bhardwaj and Krista Mahr in New Delhi, Sharat Pradhan in Lucknow, Manoj Chaurasia in Patna and Serajul Quadir in Dhaka; Writing by Sanjeev Miglani and Douglas Busvine; Editing by Mark Heinrich)
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Nepal Earthquake: Hundreds Dead After 7.9-Magnitude Tremor
Devastation Seen in Nepalese Capitol
NBC NEWSA powerful 7.9-magnitude earthquake struck Nepal on Saturday, killing hundreds, destroying homes and ancient temples, and triggering at least one avalanche on Mount Everest.
At least 597 people have been killed, said Minendra Rija, the country's minister of information and communications. "That number may rise," he cautioned.
The quake struck just before noon local time (2:15 a.m. ET) about 50 miles from the capital of Kathmandu and is the worst to hit the Himalayan nation in nearly a century. Some 30 people died in neighboring countries where the quake was felt, including 20 in India, The Associated Press reported.
India Assesses Earthquake Deaths, Damage
NBC NEWSReuters said that the death toll could be as high as 688, quoting a senior home ministry source.
Climbers on Mount Everest were sent running for their lives when the earthquake set off at least one avalanche. At least eight people died and more than two dozen were injured in the avalanche on the world's highest mountain, according to the AP.
"A massive earthquake just hit Everest. Basecamp has been severely damaged. Our team is caught in camp 1. Please pray for everyone," mountaineer Daniel Mazur tweeted hours after the quake.
There was little information coming from the outlying areas of the mountainous country and helicopters were circling overheard to get a better sense of the damage.
"We are totally cut off from most parts of our country," said Ram Narayan Pandey of the Nepal Disaster Management Authority, according to Reuters.
Shristi Mainali described the terrifying moment the earthquake could be felt in Kathmandu, which has nearly 1 million people in its metro area.
"It was a sound like thunder," the 21-year-old nursing student told NBC News. "It lasted for more than a minute... it was really shaking, shaking, shaking."
Residents in her neighborhood in Kathmandu had fled their homes after the initial earthquake and a series of strong aftershocks, Mainali said.
"They are terrified that the aftershocks may come again," she said. "We are staying away from big walls, sitting in the middle of the road."
Many buildings were destroyed in the center of Old Kathmandu, including ancient temples and towers, resident Prachanda Sual told the AP. The old part of Kathmandu city is a densely packed warren of lanes with poorly built homes crowded closely together.
In China, hundreds of soldiers belonging to the Shigatse military garrison rushed to the border to help with the rescue, reported the Chinese Liberation Daily.
The USGS revised up the size of the earthquake, which was felt in neighboring India and Pakistan, from an initial 7.5-magnitude estimate.
" F. Brinley Bruton, with The Associated Press and Reuters
First published April 25th 2015, 3:00 am
Rescuers are searching through rubble for survivors
Historic landmarks were wrecked in the earthquake
Kathmandu is a warren of tightly-packed houses and narrow streets
Dozens have been injured in the earthquake
This was the scene at Nepal's international airport
Udne Ki Aasha
