A group of people gather outdoors as an earthquake hits Kathmandu city, Nepal, Saturday, April 25, 2015. (AP Photo) A powerful, 7.9-magnitude earthquake shook Nepal’s capital and the densely populated Kathmandu Valley before noon Saturday, collapsing houses, leveling centuries-old temples and cutting open roads in the worst temblor in the Himalayan nation in over 80 years.
Dozens of people with injuries were being brought to the main hospital in central Kathmandu. There was no immediate estimate on fatalities, except for a report by China’s state broadcaster that said one Chinese tourist was killed at the Nepal-China border.
The earthquake also shook several cities across northern India, and was felt as far away as Lahore in Pakistan and Lhasa in Tibet, 550 kilometers (340 miles) east of Kathmandu. The epicenter was 80 kilometers (50 miles) northwest of Kathmandu.
Pushpa Das, a laborer, ran from the house when the first quake struck but could not escape a collapsing wall that injured his arm.
“It was very scary. The earth was moving … I am waiting for treatment but the (hospital) staff is overwhelmed,” he said, gingerly holding his right arm with his left hand. As he spoke dozens of more people showed up with injuries, mostly from falling bricks.
Several buildings collapsed in the center of the capital, the ancient Old Kathmandu, including centuries-old temples and towers, said resident Prachanda Sual. Among them was the Dharahara Tower, one of Kathmandu’s landmarks built by Nepal’s royal rulers in the 1800s and a UNESCO-recognized historical monument. It was reduced to rubble and there were reports of people trapped underneath.
Old Kathmandu city is a warren of tightly packed, narrow lanes with poorly constructed homes piled on top of each other.
Sual said he saw people running through the streets in panic. Ambulance sirens blared and government helicopters hovered overhead.
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. But smaller aftershocks continued to arrive every few minutes and residents reported of the ground feeling unstable.
Dozens of people were gathered in the parking lot of Kathmandu’s Norvic International Hospital, where thin mattresses had been spread on the ground for patients rushed outside, some patients wearing hospital pajamas, while doctors and nurses were treating people. A woman with a bandage on her head sat in a set of chairs pulled from the hospital waiting room.
Doctors and nurses had hooked up some patients to IV drops in the parking lot, or were giving people oxygen.
Nepal’s Information Minister Minendra Rijal told India’s NDTV station that there are reports of damage in and around Kathmandu but no immediate word on casualties. He said rescue teams were on the scene.
The Kathmandu Valley is densely populated with nearly 2.5 million people, and the quality of buildings is often poor.
An Associated Press reporter