Nepal's Earthquake 2015

More than 1,500 people have been killed after a major earthquake of 7.6 hit Nepal, toppling buildings in the capital, Kathmandu, and triggering avalanches in the Himalayas.

Nepalese police said the death toll in the Himalayan kingdom had risen to 1,800, while 34 fatalities were reported in northern India and one in Bangladesh.

Most of the Nepalese fatalities are from the Kathmandu Valley, where 634 people were reported to be dead, with at least 300 more in the capital.

Nepalese authorities earlier warned there were also likely to be significant casualties in the remote districts nearer the epicentre of the earthquake, 50 miles north-west of Kathmandu.National radio warned people to stay outdoors and maintain calm because more aftershocks were feared. A 6.6-magnitude aftershock hit about an hour after the initial quake. Smaller aftershocks continued to arrive every few minutes throughout much of early afternoon.

The Kathmandu valley is densely populated with nearly 2.5 million people and the quality of buildings is often poor.

Nepal suffered its worst recorded earthquake in 1934, which measured 8.0 and all but destroyed the cities of Kathmandu, Bhaktapur and Patan, killing more than 8,500 people. It was hit by another deadly quake in 2011, when at least five people died.

#PrayforNepal

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