More Than 1,400 Dead as Magnitude-7.8 Quake Rocks Nepal
A powerful earthquake — the country’s worst in 80 years — rocked mountainous Nepal on Saturday, killing more than 1,400 people and leveling buildings and centuries-old temples. Dozens if not hundreds remained trapped under mounds of rubble.
Hospitals in the capital of Katmandu were so crowded that many of the injured were treated outside in the open, according to local media. The magnitude-7.8 quake, which shook a wide swath of northern India and Tibet, also triggered avalanches in the Himalayas, killing at least 10 people on Mount Everest.
Nepal police said at least 1,457 people were killed. Given the scale of the destruction, the death toll could continue to rise. An emergency Cabinet meeting designated 29 districts as crisis zones, the Home Affairs Ministry said.
More: More Than 1,400 Dead as Magnitude-7.8 Quake Rocks Nepal