Sanjaya Dhakal
BBC Nepali

The Nepal government has declared a state of emergency in the affected districts and appealed for international humanitarian assistance. Kathmandu Valley and surrounding districts are worst affected, according to the Deputy Prime Minister Bamdev Gautam

Thirty-five people have been killed in India, the federal government tells BBC Hindi

Daniel Lins sent in this picture, close to the Swayambhunath temple in Kathmandu. "As the ground shook under our feet, the large temple crumbled into rubble", he said

Image source, Daniel Lins

This is the chilling moment that the earthquake struck, captured on video.

Fresh figures on the current death toll continue to emerge via Nepalese officials. The latest grim accumulation states that at least 711 people have died, 467 in Kathmandu. Again we expect the toll to rise further with many people seriously injured and others still hidden beneath rubble.

tweets:, external Spoke to PM Sushil Koirala, who is in transit in Bangkok on his way to Kathmandu. Assured all support & assistance during this tough time.

Image source, Reuters

Singapore's Straits Times has an account from one of its journalists who was at Kathmandu airport, external when the quake struck. Passengers "began to panic" tripping over one another in a desparate rush to get out of the terminal building, the report says.

The 7.8 magnitude earthquake that shook large areas of Nepal is among the strongest on record.

• Chile, 1960, a 9.5 magnitude quake trigged a tsunami. At least 1,700 people died

• Alaska, 1964, 131 people were killed in a 9.2 earthquake

• Indonesia, 2004, the devastating 9.1 earthquake and ensuing tsunami killed more than 230,000 people in a dozen countries

• Japan, 2011, a 9.0 quake triggered a tsunami, killing more than 18,000 people

• Russia, 1952, another 9.0 earthquake caused damage but no reported casualties

Image source, Reuters

Most of those people known to have died were killed when the earthquake struck Kathmandu (pictured), Nepal's national police have told the BBC. At least 391 people were killed in the capital city, a spokesman said.

Patrick Adams, a photo journalist, was staying at a hotel in Kathmandu when the earthquake hit. He told the BBC: "Things just started falling off the wall, with the whole earth started shaking thing. Everyone ended up in the courtyard and then I have a friend who's a doctor working here at a teaching hospital and I wanted to go up and make sure that he was ok. And I went up to the hospital and it was just pretty terrible scenes, as you might expect. Lot of severely injured folks and truckloads of bodies coming in."

Image source, USGS

The US Geological Survey is currently putting out some alarming estimates of the likely final toll, external from the Nepal earthquake. Whether or not these projections are borne out by events, they show why there is such concern for people living in the vulnerable region.

Ben Turner, Exeter, via WhatsApp: "My girlfriend is in Kathmandu, at the city's main airport. The plane was on the runway when the main quake struck, causing serve shaking and the take off to be aborted. The entire airport was evacuated and she had to wait on the runway for a long period of time as the Air Traffic Control tower was also evacuated."

Image source, Reuters

The terrible scale of the human tragedy in Nepal is becoming more apparent by the minute. Nepalese national police have just told the BBC World Service that 565 people have died across the country, scores more than the 449 just reported - and the figure is expected to rise.

More also on those reports of a deadly avalanche at Everest base camp (see 10:35). At least eight people have been killed there according to Nepal's tourism ministry. "The toll could go up, it may include foreigners as well as sherpas," tourism official Gyanendra Shrestha is quoted as saying by Reuters news agency.

News agency AFP is now also reporting that earlier line (see 11:30) from Nepali police that puts the death toll from the earthquake at 449 people.

Image source, Reuters

It won't be long before darkness will be falling in the affected region, and amid the fear of further aftershocks, many people will be spending the night in open spaces.

At least 13 people are known to have been killed in India by the earthquake, the Indian interior ministry has confirmed to the BBC Hindi Service.

Sanjaya Dhakal
BBC Nepali

The Nepal government has declared a state of emergency in the affected districts and appealed for international humanitarian assistance. Kathmandu Valley and surrounding districts are worst affected, according to the Deputy Prime Minister Bamdev Gautam. The government has ordered all security forces to get mobilised for rescue efforts.

We have an unconfirmed report in from Reuters quoting Nepali police which puts the death toll in the quake at 449. This would be a major leap upwards from the current confirmed death toll, and we'll update as soon as we have more on this.

tweets, external: Indian PM Narendra Modi speaks to Nepal PM Sushil Koirala. Offers all assistance for quake. India army, Air Force on standby to help Nepal