Nepal: Shaken to the core

HIMALAYAN TRAGEDY

Worst earthquake in 80 years. The quake - measuring 7.8 on the Richter scale - "wrecked houses, leveled centuries-old temples and triggered avalanches on Mount Everest", in the Observer's words. The overall death toll has reached 1,300, mainly in Nepal although parts of India, Pakistan and Bangladesh have been affected. 

LACK OF RESOURSES

After a cold and wet night, the skies have cleared over Kathmandu allowing rescue teams to continue working. But it is becoming harder for the hundreds of thousands sheltering out in the open. Many are staying in very basic tents with little protection.Water is  becoming scarce and there are fears that children in particular could be at risk of disease. Even residents of some of the city's smarter neighborhoods are  sleeping on carpets and  mattresses outside their homes.

LOST CLIMBERS

An indian army mountaineering team found 18 bodies on Mount Everest where an avalanche unleashed by the earthquake swept throught the base camp where more than 1000 climbers had gathered at the start of the climbing season.

THIS WAS NOT THE BIG ONE

Scientists say this was not the big one that they had been predicting would strike the area. At 7.9 on the ricter scale releasing energy "equivalent to about 100mm tones of TNT", Surdays eathquake was second only to the 8.3 magnititude earthquake that had struck the bihar/nepal region on january 15,1934. The eastern end of the Himalaya region, on the Arunachal Pradesh - china border , had been hit by 8.5 magnitude eathquake on august 15, 1950. After that, the region has seen much smaller eathquake, the biggest been the one in chamoli, uttarakhand 1999 that had caused wides spread damage. In 2011, the sikkim - nepal boarder also was hit by a 6.8 - magnitude earthquake.