DHAKA: At least 686 people have died after strong earthquake, says Nepal government, reports NDTV.

Moreover, at least 29 people have been killed and dozens more injured in India in a powerful earthquake that struck neighboring Nepal, according to The Times of India.

A government official in Indian state of Bihar says at least 22 deaths were reported in seven districts that share a border with Nepal. At least 35 other people were injured in Saturday’s magnitude-7.9 quake.

The official, Vyasji, who goes by one name and heads the state’s disaster management department, says vacations for all government doctors have been canceled to ensure that anyone injured gets adequate medical care.

Yogeshwar Misra, a government official in India’s Uttar Pradesh, says at least six deaths were reported there from house collapses triggered by the quake. Thirty other people were injured in the state.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday appointed Union minister Rajiv Pratap Rudy to assess the situation in the states bordering Nepal after a massive earthquake hit the Himalayan country.

Modi instructed Rudy to take stock of the situation in the districts of Bihar and Uttar Pradesh that are along the Nepal border.

Nepal’s capital of Kathmandu has been left devastated with roads split open, and homes and iconic landmarks collapsed into rubble. There was little information coming from the outlying areas of the mountainous country and helicopters were circling overheard to get a sense of the damage.

A shallow quake like this morning’s is usually more dangerous because the amount of energy released is focused over a smaller area.

At the main hospital in Kathmandu, people with broken limbs and arms were being rushed in for treatment. It was unclear how many people were injured.

The historic Dharara Tower built in the 19th century in Kathmandu collapsed, trapping at least 50 people, Nepal media reported. The tower had been open to visitors for the last 10 years and had a viewing balcony on its eighth floor. Witnesses spoke of dead bodies being removed from the site.

Photographs from Kathmandu posted online showed buildings left in rubble, large cracks along roads and residents sitting in the street holding babies.

The US Geological Survey said the quake, initially measured at 7.7 but upgraded to 7.9 magnitude, struck 80 km east of Pokhara.

** More than 150 dead in Nepal quake

BDST: 1740 HRS, APR 25, 2015
RR