Hundreds Dead After Massive Earthquake Strikes Nepal

Abigail Hunter(KATHMANDU, Nepal) — At least 688 people were killed after a massive earthquake struck Nepal on Saturday, collapsing centuries-old temples and triggering avalanches on Mt. Everest.

The magnitude-7.9 earthquake hit about 50 miles northwest of Kathmandu, the capital of Nepal, just before noon local time, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. Images of the country show extensive damage with many buildings crumbling as a result of the quake.

Abigail Hunter, an American traveling in Baktapur, saw people pulling others out of buildings and using motorbikes and small trucks as makeshift ambulances.

The earthquake reduced many of the temples inside the city to rubble, she said, adding that she saw “lots of people praying to the actual temples” as aftershocks hit the city.

“Buildings here are mostly old, brick buildings and the streets are littered with bricks, debris, loads of dust,” said Hunter, the sister of an ABC News employee. “[It] was hard to see during the earthquake with all the dust.”

A magnitude-6.6 aftershock hit about an hour later. Smaller aftershocks followed in the region for hours.

The earthquake triggered avalanches on Mt. Everest, where eight bodies have been recovered, an official with Nepal’s mountaineering department said. The quake also killed 20 in India, six in Tibet, two in Bangladesh, and two Chinese citizens on the Nepal-China border.

David Arvan, who was visiting Nepal with family and friends, said he immediately recognized the earthquake having lived in California.

“We sought shelter under a concave boulder until it subsided,” Arvan told ABC News by email. “Some people were crying in fear during all the rumbling.”


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