mxcleod:

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 eight people at Mount Everest’s base camp.

Nepal police said at least 1,457 people were killed.

Outside Nepal, at least 20 people were also killed in India, six in Tibet and two in Bangladesh. Two Chinese citizens died at the Nepal-China border. Given the scale of the destruction, the death toll is almost certain to rise, said Laxmi Dhakal, Nepal’s Home Ministry official. (x)

If you can please donate to the Nepal Earthquake Relief Fund!

You can also donate to the American Red Cross by texting “redcross” to 90999. That text will result in a $10 donation to the disaster relief fund.