A powerful earthquake struck in Nepal on Saturday near its capital, Katmandu, flattening many sections of the city's historic center trapping dozens of people in a 200-foot watchtower that crumbled into a pile rubble.
So far, officials have placed the death toll for the earthquake at over 1,200 with over 4,000 people injured, nearly all of them in the valley around Katmandu. However, the damage and death caused by the earthquake wasn't limited to Katmandu as the shaking ground set off avalanches around Mount Everest, where several hikers were reported to have been killed. In northern India at least 34 deaths were reported and it causes the buildings in Tibet and Bangladesh to sway.
The earthquake was estimated to have a magnitude of 7.8 and struck shortly before noon causing residents to run into the streets and other open spaces as buildings fell. Wide cracks formed in the streets and walls of buildings and motorcycles slid off the edge of the highway.
By midafternoon, there were 12 aftershocks reported by the United States Geological Survey with one of measuring at a magnitude of 6.6.
Seismologists have been expected a major earthquake in western Nepal due to pent up pressure of the Eurasia plate and the upthrusting Indian plate. Despite these expectations, the first hours were chaotic as rescue efforts were mounted all over the city.
Kanak Mani Dixit, a Nepalese political commentator, said he was having lunch with his parents when the quake struck and the rolling was so intense he had trouble getting to his feet.
"And I had time to do all that while the quake was still going on," Mr. Dixit said. "It was like being on a boat in heavy seas."
Many have been concerned about the concrete high rises that were quickly constructed, but the worst damage was located in the oldest part of the city that contains many temples and palaces made of wood and unmortared brick. The most breathtaking loss was the nine-story Dharahara Tower, built in 1832 on orders of the queen. The tower had just recently reopened to the public for tours, who could ascend a narrow spiral staircase to a viewing platform about 200 feet above the city.
"I was here yesterday, I was here the day before yesterday and it was there," he said. "Today it's just gone. Last night, from my terrace, I was looking at the tower. And today I was at the tower - and there is no tower."
For years, people have worried about an earthquake in Nepal and feared a high death toll due largely to unregulated construction in recent years. Recently, the government had begun to make some improvements by making buildings more robust and reinforcing older ones.
"There is a little bit of improvement," said Ganesh K. Bhattari, a Nepalese expert on earthquakes now living in Denmark. "But it is really difficult for people to implement the rules and the regulations."
The earthquake set off avalanches on Mount Everest, where several hundred climbers were attempting the ascent. "Many camps have been destroyed by the shake and wind from the avalanche," Mr. Sherpa, the base camp manager for Asian Trekking, wrote in a post on Facebook. "All the doctors here are doing our best to treat and save lives."
Ten people died on Mount Everest after the quake, Nepalese officials said.
Historically, the regions has been the site of the largest earthquakes in the Himalayas. A 2005 earthquake in Kashmir and a 1905 quake in Kangra, India, resulted in the deaths of more than 100,000 people according to the United States Geological Survey.
