In one of the worst earthquakes Nepal has suffered in 80 years which have left nearly 2,000 dead from yesterday’s earthquake 60km from Kathmandu; and it has been reported that the aftershock of the earthquake has been reported this morning in other areas of Nepal, India and Bangladesh, and even as far as Mount Everest where 17 people were also reported having been killed from the effects of the earthquake.

Today relief efforts in Nepal have been in intensifying, with rescue missions taking place and aid now starting to arrive in the region.

The earthquake measured as a 6.7 and in some areas 7.8 magnitude tremors and in the city people ran in panic for open spaces in the city.

Military helicopters have been seen looking  for survivors and ferrying  supplies to victims of the earthquake,  other search and rescue efforts  are also being undertaken in five locations in Kathmandu.

The worry now is that there will be shortage of food and water, and people are hoping that the aftershocks will stop with things returning to normal. The death toll from the original earthquake could rise, as the situation is unclear in remote areas which remain cut off or hard to access.

Currently roads and mountain routes are blocked by the landslides that have taken place following the earthquake.  Hospitals have been trying to cope with the number of injured and dead with more than 700 estimated to have died in the capital alone. Medics and hospital staff are expecting more bodies and injured to arrive today.

Tents have been set up in a parade ground in the city centre to house thousands of people displaced by the earthquake.

Rescuers have been attempting to rescue people by digging with their bare hands into the rubble of buildings who may be buried underneath piles of rubble and debris overnight on Saturday and a army officer from Santosh reported to Reuters news agency that soldiers have had to dig a passage into a collapsed three-storey residential building in Kathmandu using pickaxes, due to  inaccessibility of  ancient city’s narrow streets for bulldozers to drive through where the earthquake measured one of  It’s highest magnitudes of 7.8 in central Nepal between Kathmandu and the city of Pokhara  and it is now feared that today’s aftershock will cause more instability and damage to buildings.

It is the worst earthquake to strike Nepal since one in 1934 which killed some 8,500 people.

Action Aid are running the following disaster appeal at: https://support.actionaid.org.uk/donations/My-Details?gclid=CNqpr8b7k8UCFeiWtAodKUkAcw/