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Nepal earthquake in 75 photos: All about the disaster that killed 6,100, destroyed 6 lakh houses
A total of 6,200 people are so far known to have died in Nepal alone from Saturday's quake, and around 100 more in neighbouring India and China. Around 10,000 were injured while the United Nations estimates that 8 million people have been affected by Nepal's worst natural disaster in eight decades.
The death toll in Nepal from a massive weekend earthquake has risen to 6,100 on Friday, according to a new tally by disaster management officials.
A total of 6,100 people are so far known to have died in Nepal alone from Saturday's quake, and around 100 more in neighbouring India and China. Around 10,000 were injured while the United Nations estimates that 8 million people have been affected and 600,000 houses have been destroyed or damaged by Nepal's worst natural disaster in eight decades.
Prime Minister Sushil Koirala told Reuters on Tuesday that the death toll could reach 10,000, as information on damage from far-flung villages and towns is yet to come in.
If the number does reach that it would surpass the 8,500 who died in a 1934 earthquake, the last disaster on this scale to hit the Himalayan nation of 28 million people located between India and China.
Earthquake
The earthquake occurred at 11:43am IST on April 25 with a moment magnitude (Mw) of 7.8. The earthquake was initially reported as 7.5 Mw by the United States Geological Survey (USGS) before being quickly upgraded to 7.9 Mw.
Epicentre
It's epicentre was approximately 34 km east-southeast of Lamjung in Nepal, and its hypocentre was at a depth of approximately 15 km. Bharatpur was the nearest major city to the main earthquake, 53 km from the epicentre.
The second earthquake occurred 81 km northwest of Kathmandu, the capital of Nepal. Over 35 aftershocks of magnitude 4.5 Mw or greater occurred following the initial earthquake, including one of magnitude 6.6 Mw.
Reason
According to the USGS, the temblor was caused by a sudden thrust or release of built-up stress, along the major fault line where the Indian Plate, carrying India, is slowly diving underneath the Eurasian Plate, carrying much of Europe and Asia.
Kathmandu, situated on a block of crust approximately 120 km wide and 60 km long, reportedly shifted 10 feet (3 metre) to the south in just 30 seconds.
Impact
Tremors were felt in the Indian states of Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Assam, West Bengal, Sikkim, Uttarakhand, Odisha, Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, New Delhi and as far south as Karnataka.
The earthquake was also experienced across southwestern China, ranging from the Tibet Autonomous Region to Chengdu, which is 1,900 km away from the epicentre. Tremors were also felt in Pakistan and Bhutan.
Aftermath
The Unicef has said that close to a 1 million children have been "severely affected" by the disaster. The UN says the quake has affected 8.1 million people - more than a fourth of Nepal's population of 27.8 million - and that 1.4 million needed food assistance.
Take a look at what happened in Nepal over the last 5 days:
In Videos:
Watch: Just before the earthquake in Basantapur, Nepal
Watch: A group of Nepalese pranksters were making a video when it was interrupted by earthquake
Watch: Nepal earthquake aftermath: Drone footage reveals massive scale of destruction
In Pictures: Widespread devastation in Nepal
