NEW DELHI — An earthquake with an estimated magnitude of 7.9 shook Nepal on Saturday near its capital, Katmandu. People in the capital described scenes of panic and collapsed buildings, and the United States Geological Survey predicted very severe damage to villages near the quake’s epicenter, about 50 miles from Katmandu.
Residents of the capital ran into the streets and other open spaces as buildings fell, throwing up clouds of dust, and wide cracks opened on paved streets and the walls of city buildings. Witnesses said the earthquake continued for as long as 10 minutes.
One aftershock was measured at 6.6 on the Richter scale. Trekkers also reported a major avalanche on Mount Everest.
Kanak Mani Dixit, a Nepali political commentator, said he was having lunch with his parents when the quake struck. The rolling was so intense and long-lasting that he had trouble getting to his feet, he said. He helped his father and an elderly neighbor to safety in the garden outside and then had to carry his elderly mother.
Photo“And I had time to do all that while the quake was still going on,†Mr. Dixit said. “It was like being on a boat in heavy seas.â€
The nine-story Dharahara Tower, which was built in 1832 as a watchtower on the orders of the then-queen, collapsed, Mr. Dixit said. Witnesses there said more than 200 people had bought tickets to climb up to a viewing platform on the eighth story, and that several dozen were likely on the platform when the earthquake hit. “Scores probably died in this place,†Mr. Dixit said.
Joydeb Chakravarty, managing director of the J. Walter Thompson advertising agency in Nepal, said he was grocery shopping when the quake struck. “And suddenly, everything started collapsing around us,†Mr. Chakravarty said. “The shelves all came down, the food items all crashed down. We were barely able to get out the emergency exit.â€
Photographs posted on social media showed people digging in the debris of collapsed structures. Kashish Das Shrestha, a photographer, said people had been trapped in the rubble and could be heard crying out, as rescuers tried to make their way into buildings.
“Everywhere there are people on the streets, people crying, people stuck in rubble, people trying to help,†Mr. Shrestha said.
PhotoHe described severe damage to parts of the palace complex in Vasanthapura Square, the site of palaces and temples that date to the 11th century. The old section of the city is a warren of narrow lanes and historic structures.
“Oh my God, the entire Vasansthapura is in rubble,†Mr. Shrestha said. Hospitals in Katmandu were reporting the arrival of patients with broken limbs.
The earthquake set off avalanches on Mount Everest, where several hundred trekkers were attempting an ascent, according to climbers there. Nima Namgyal Sherpa, who is currently at a base camp, described one avalanche as “huge†and said it had caused many injuries.
“Many camps have been destroyed by the shake and wind from the avalanche,†Mr. Sherpa, the base camp manager for Asian Treks, wrote in a post on Facebook. “All the doctors here are doing our best to treat and save lives.â€
Tremors from the quake were felt across northern India, rattling bookcases and light fixtures as far away as Delhi. Electricity was switched off for safety reasons in the state of Bihar, where three deaths were reported in one district, Rajiv Pratap Rudy, India’s minister of skill development, told reporters in New Delhi. Two other deaths were reported in a second nearby district.
Historically, the region has been the site of the largest earthquakes in the Himalayas. A 2005 earthquake in Kashmir and a 1905 earthquake in Kangra resulted in a death toll of more than 100,000 people, according to the United States Geological Survey.
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