A powerful earthquake has hit Nepal on Saturday near its capital, Katmandu, killing over 500 people, CNN reported, citing the country’s Ministry of Home Affairs.
However, Nepal Times reported the death toll at 356, quoting the same source.
A Reuters reporter in Kathmandu said he had seen some buildings collapse and walls of several houses reduced to rubble.
The epicentre of the earhquake was about 80km northwest of Katmandu, said the U.S. Geological Survey, which revised down the magnitude to 7.8 from an earlier estimate of 7.9.
By mid-afternoon the U.S. Geological Survey counted 12 aftershocks with one hitting a magnitude of 6.6.
Strong tremors went as far away as New Delhi in India and Dhaka in Bangladesh.
"We are in the process of finding more information and are working to reach out to those affected, both at home and in Nepal," Indian prime minister Narendra Modi said in a tweet.
We are in the process of finding more information and are working to reach out to those affected, both at home & in Nepal.
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) April 25, 2015
Reports are coming in of an avalanche that struck the base camp at Mount Everest in northern Nepal, where international mountaineers and their local guides were preparing to climb the world’s highest peak.
