TheCable

At least 876 people have been confirmed dead in an earthquake in Nepal, southern Asia, with many others trapped under the rubble.

According to the United States Geological Survey (USGS), the earthquake was estimated to have a magnitude of 7.8, shaking the country’s capital, Katmandu, and flattening out sections of the city’s historic centre.

Kamal Singh Bam, a spokesman for the Nepal police, confirmed to BBC, that at least 876 people have been killed in powerful earthquake.

Consequent tremors were felt across the southern Asian region, with further loss of life in India, Bangladesh and on the world’s tallest mountain – Mount Everest.

Minendra Rijal, Nepali information minister, spoke to BBC, saying there had been massive damage at the epicentre, from where information on the situation is trickling in.

“We need support from the various international agencies which are more knowledgeable and equipped to handle the kind of emergency we face now,” he said.

A national police spokesman said 711 people had died in the quake, 467 of them in Kathmandu alone.

Historic monuments, sacred to the nation’s culture and religion were destroyed in the quake, with a nine-storey tower, temples and some parts of what was once a royal palace, listed as world heritage sites reduced to rubble.

The quake – regarded as the worse earthquake in the nation’s history since 1934 – has been reported to have killed 34 people in India, a neighbouring country and one in Bangladesh.

The world’s strongest earthquake with a magnitude of 9.5 was recorded in Chile in 1960, killing at least 1,700 people.

Nepal is bordered by India, China and Bangladesh.