Our live page coverage of the Nepal earthquake is now ending. Please check the BBC News website for regular updates as the rescue and relief effort continues.

Sandesh Kaji Shrestha is in Kathmandu and has been volunteering in the rescue effort. He told the BBC: "Kathmandu has been very badly affected by the earthquake. Some areas are completely destroyed.

"I am in the Thamel area and the Hotel Budget has been completely demolished with more than 50 guests inside. I have been helping to pull people and bodies out of the rubble, along with my friend.

Image source, Sandesh Kaji Shrestha

"We pulled a child out with its grandmother earlier. They did not survive. I am most sad. It has been a very bad experience and a terrible and very difficult day. The hospitals are out of control. We need help."

Rob Stiles, from Los Angeles, is on holiday in Kathmandu and told the BBC: "When we felt the earthquake we jumped in the doorway of our hotel. We knew what to do, coming from California.

"There were people running out of our hotel. They just fell to the ground. A wall about eight feet (2.4m) high came down over the road - thankfully no one was crushed. Within 15 minutes there were four aftershocks.

"We headed down the main street where a school's entire facade had come off. There were military and workers unearthing rubble and pulling out bodies. There was a triage set up in the middle of the street.

"It was the biggest earthquake I've ever been in. It felt like it went on for two minutes. Everyone here is just super-confused."

Image source, Reuters

Reports from Chinese state media suggest Gyirong and Tingri counties in south Tibet - just across Nepal's northern border - have been badly affected in the quake. The Chinese government has dispatched a team to the area to assess the damage and relief requirements, Xinhua news agency reports. The above picture shows rescuers helping residents of Xigaze Prefecture in Tibet.

a Romanian climber at Everest tweets, external: "Huge disaster. Helped searched and rescued victims through huge debris area. Many dead. Much more badly injured. More to die if not heli asap."

The death toll from the quake in Nepal is now 970, with 539 victims in the Kathmandu Valley, Nepal police spokesman Kamal Singh Bam tells the BBC.

Aid agency Plan International's Tanya Barron is in Biratnagar, in the far south-east of Nepal, some 240km (150 miles) from Kathmandu. She says: "There are crowds of people on the streets here and the hospitals are already overwhelmed. Hundreds of people are on the street preparing to sleep outside amid fears of aftershocks."

The agency says the full extent of the damage in Nepal will only be known once rural areas outside Kathmandu are reached.

Google has set up a "person finder" page, external, matching those looking for someone with those with information about someone.

Image source, AP/EPA

The nine-story Dharahara Tower - a Unesco-recognised Kathmandu landmark built as a watchtower in the 1800s - has been reduced to rubble and there are reports of people trapped underneath.

tweets, external: To help communication, central government reduces India-Nepal call charges

Image source, Reuters

At least 10 people are dead at Mount Everest, Reuters news agency now reports, after the quake triggered an avalanche. But climber Robin Trygg, has told Swedish news agency TT his Sherpa guides had been in radio contact with other guides on Everest and that they reported as many as 80 people hit by an avalanche. Many climbers are reported missing and there are fears they could be dead or trapped.

Navin Singh Khadka
BBC Nepali

The authorities say more traditional houses seem to have been destroyed compared to modern buildings despite fears that the country's lack of strict building codes would mean even modern buildings were vulnerable to an earthquake of this magnitude.

Kathmandu has seen rampant urbanisation over the years and there have been a number of warnings that the buildings could cause huge casualties during an earthquake like this.

Sajiya Gurung in Kathmandu says: "It was terrifying. Everything in the house started falling down. I quickly ran outside, as did all my neighbours. We have been standing outside on the street since. My neighbours and I have been holding hands thanking God we are ok. Many houses have collapsed and people are injured. There is also water everywhere from burst pipes and it is leaking out of the houses in the area. We may have to sleep out here tonight. The weather has improved thankfully, but we're still too afraid to go back into our houses."

Image source, Sajiya Gurung

At least 876 people have been killed in Nepal, a spokesman for the Nepal police, Kamal Singh Bam, has told the BBC. More than 1,700 have been injured so far. That is a jump on the last reported figure of 758

Navin Singh Khadka
BBC Nepali

A number of major historic monuments have been destroyed. In Kathmandu, these include a nine-storey tower, temples and some parts of what was once a royal palace, all listed as Unesco world heritage site.

"Some monuments have been reduced to rubble while it is feared others could yet collapse. Such sites are Nepal's major tourist attractions. Nepal had previously lost several such monuments during a major earthquake in 1934."

Image source, AFP

The quake has killed five people and seriously injured 13 in Tibet, southwest China, Xinhua news agency reports, citing local authorities

CK Lal, a journalist in Kathmandu, tells us about the moment the quake struck: "The whole ground was moving. It was a big sound and then dust everywhere. I saw people running everywhere and shouting. They were many running out of houses. I saw many people injuring themselves trying to escape. There's no electricity, no water. "

has tweeted, external shocking images from before and after the quake, which struck when she was visiting temples in Kathmandu:

Image source, Siobhan Heanue

Image source, Siobhan Heanue

Image source, Siobhan Heanue

Image source, Siobhan Heanue