Nepal earthquake: Everest cleared, but dozens of Britons still missing

British Army Gurkhas sent in to help with rescue efforts as more survivors tell of their escape from Everest - follow latest updates

• Everest avalanche: Up to 100 people feared stranded
• Video: Moment avalanche hits Everest mountaineers
• Death toll rises to 4,000 as Queen sends condolences
• Nepal earthquake: Who are the British and foreign victims?
• Massive earthquake hits Kathmandu Valley in Nepal, in pictures
• DEC appeal launched - 0370 60 60 900 and website dec.org.uk

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01.41
AP has a story tonight looking at how regional powers are jokeying for position with a subtle brand of disaster politics:

India, the traditional power in the region, launched Operation Friendship soon after the quake Saturday. It has sent the most help so far, deploying 13 aircraft and more than 500 rescuers as well as water, food, equipment and medical supplies.

China, increasingly making inroads in Nepal through everything from infrastructure investment to increased tourism, also pledged all-out assistance within hours of the disaster. It has sent 62 rescuers plus blankets, tents and generators and announced plans to send four planes and an additional 170 soldiers.

India's rival, Pakistan, also has sent four cargo planes full of supplies, including concrete cutters and sniffer dogs.

00.58
Rescue workers from British charity SARAID (Search and Rescue Assitance in Disasters) arrive at Kathmamdu airport in Nepal

Just some of the aid that is pouring into Nepal, where more than 4000 people have died and the UN estimates that 8m have been affected in some way - including thousands left homeless.

00.35
Susannah Ross

The family of one British woman, trapped in a remote region of Nepal, have described their frustration as they wait for more news. Relatives of Susannah Ross said they felt as though they were "drowning". She has not been able to contact them directly but they received an SOS from another walker saying the group was trapped without food and water and in desperate need of medical assistance. Her sister Nina said they received a message saying she was stuck with 15 other trekkers.

Basically they have sent the co-ordinates but said in the message that some are injured and that they don't have any food or water and that they really need to be rescued.

They have said they need a helicopter to get out. All the roads around them are ruined and they can't get out.

23.54
A Nepalese priest prepares the platform for a pyre for people killed in Saturday's earthquake at the Pashupatinath temple Kathmandu

23.43
The worst thing about this? Turns out it wasn't even the big one. The New York Times has a fascinating blog post discussing why the death toll - even if it rises considerably - will still be lower than many forecasts. It's well worth reading the entire piece, which discusses the mechanics of earthquakes and other considerations. It quotes Susan Hough, a United States Geological Survey seismologist...

Could something bigger happen in Nepal? Sure.

There’s the megathrust segment immediately west of this earthquake, which we believe last broke in 1505. It’s the usual story, though: we don’t know when. The odds of subsequent big earthquakes always go up after a major earthquake. Ironically, the most dangerous time, statistically, is always just after a major earthquake has happened. But still it’s a low probability. We quote a 1-in-20 chance that something bigger will happen within 3 days, but the odds drop quickly with each passing hour. By this time [Sunday], the odds are more like 1-in-100. And the odds of an earthquake much larger than 7.8 are much lower still. It is possible, maybe even inevitable, that both Port-au-Prince and Nepal will be hit with stronger ground motions than what they’ve seen in recent years.

23.29
New Yorkers mourn a New Jersey woman and two Brooklyn natives who are dead or missing in Nepal http://t.co/kiWCPxsB3P pic.twitter.com/9nng6H8PII

— New York Post Metro (@nypmetro) April 27, 2015
23.15
30,000 people living in make-shift camps, too scared to return home, many buildings still unsafe #Nepal #Kathmandu pic.twitter.com/gzdwyY0eCi

— Oxfam International (@Oxfam) April 27, 2015
23.00
The United Nations says there is an urgent need for relief materials ranging from tarpaulin sheets and clean water to soap and medicines.

According to initial estimations and based on the latest earthquake intensity mapping, eight million people in 39 districts have been affected, of which over two million people live in the 11 severely affected districts.

22.15
If you want to help support the disaster response, then Quartz has assembled a useful list of organisations collecting donations to support victims.

21.29
The Telegraph's Richard Spencer has filed a dispatch from Bhaktapur, one of three Royal Cities in the Kathmandu Valley. Here is an extract:

The overhanging tiles and red brick facings of Bhaktapur, one of Nepal's most famous historic sites, look like toy houses, bashed randomly by a child with a plastic hammer.

A roof punched in here, a facade knocked away up the street, in all too many cases a full-on hit that brought the whole thing tumbling down despite the building next door looking untouched.

"One person died in that house. He was 57," said Punyrambhele Kabir, 33, maths teacher at the local secondary school, indicating a house next to his own from his vantage point in Lakolachen Khalla, a picturesque old residential square. He and his family were all unharmed, as was his more solidly built home.

... The delicate brickwork of the majestic old cities, such as Bhaktapur on Kathmandu's outskirts, proved to be as fragile as it looked.

21.19
Facebook is rolling out a donation button for contributions to victims of the earthquake, and has offered to match up to $2 million.

"People are coming together to support those affected by the earthquake that struck Nepal and impacted the populations of Nepal, India and Bangladesh," Facebook said in a blog post.

As of Monday, users will see a message at the top of their News Feed with an option to donate to International Medical Corps, which has been operating relief units in the region.

In addition, Facebook said it had activated its "Safety Check," a system which allows people in the disaster zone to notify friends and family if they are safe.

20.22
Prabina Mainali, feeds her newborn baby boy - not even a day old - in a make-shift tent situated in open ground from fear of earthquake tremors in Kathmandu, Nepal:


(Manish Swarup/AP)

19.49
An earthquake survivor has described how she was rescued from the path of a falling building in Bhaktapur by an aid coordinator who was recuperating from saving Ebola victims in West Africa.

Sean Casey, an emergency medical relief coordinator in Liberia, had just arrived in Nepal on holiday and was with a friend, Claire Davidson, when the earthquake struck and buildings surrounding them began to collapse.

Ms Davidson said he quickly pulled her away as rubble started landing around them.

A building nearly fell on top of us and Sean saved my life. Everything was moving.

We were going around in circles not knowing which building would fall

The following day Mr Casey was coordinating emergency medical aid for the International Medical Corps and heading towards the worst-hit areas closer to the epicentre in Gorkha district.

19.33
As survivors from Everest reached hospitals in Kathmandu, one climber has told the Telegraph how he was tossed around “like a rag doll” as the avalanche flattened the base camp.

Paul Greenan, from Dublin, was just yards from Dan Fredinburg, a Google executive killed when the wall of snow and ice hit, reports Richard Spencer in Kathmandu.

“This mountain of snow just tipped over,” the 38-year-old said from his hospital bed in the Nepalese capital, where he was being treated for a dislocated elbow, six broken ribs, a broken hand, and a broken pelvis.


Paul Greenan, who was injured at Everest Base Camp, now in hospital in Katmandu (Will Wintercross/The Telegraph)

“It had built up over the last two weeks. It came towards us – we waited for it to run out of steam but instead it just engulfed us.

“I was thrown aside like a rag doll by the sheer force behind it.”

He saw Mr Fredinburg, who was one of nine climbers and three guides in his party, ten yards ahead of him. “We all got whacked by the same wave,” Mr Greenan said. “So it was just what hit you.”

18.28
Here is an animated graphic showing the frequency and magnitude of aftershocks following Saturday's earthquake:


18.18
The US state department says it is now aware of four US citizens killed, reports Reuters.

18.10
Nepalese people make themselves warm while they stay on open ground in Kathmandu



17.58
We reported earlier that the US was to send $9 million more to Nepal, which means the country is sending a total of $10 million to the Asian nation.

John Kerry made the announcement of the increasing amount of aid as he sent his "deepest condolences" to the people of Nepal. He described the images coming out of Nepal as "gut-wrenching, [showing] extraordinary devastation".

John Kerry (AFP)

He added: "Tragedies of this magnitude really underscore that in today's world next-door is really everywhere."

The US secretary of state was speaking at a joint press conference with Fumio Kishida, the Japanese foreign minister.

Tokyo itself is sending $8 million in aid.

17.34
The disaster, which is the country's biggest in 80 years, will require a "massive" aid operation.

"This will be a... massive operation," Elisabeth Byrs, spokesman for the UN's World Food Programme, told AFP.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) said it was sending additional emergency kits to meet immediate health needs.

"An additional five emergency health kits are being flown in along with surgical kits and trauma bags to meet the immediate health needs. There is an urgent need to replenish medical stocks to support the emergency response efforts," said Poonam Khetrapal, WHO's regional director for Southeast Asia.

In the UK, further humanitarian aid is being sent to Nepal, according to BBC's John Kay.

Shelter kits and humanitarian aid now being loaded onto this RAF C-17 at Brize Norton heading to Nepal.. pic.twitter.com/ir2sRxya0l

— Jon Kay (@jonkay01) April 27, 2015
17.01
The US secretary of state has announced a further $9 million (£5.91 million) in aid.

#Breaking: John Kerry announces an additional $9 million in aid to #Nepal after earthquake: http://t.co/9WDFZDUO7o pic.twitter.com/pFoDCgfGf1

— The Situation Room (@CNNSitRoom) April 27, 2015
16.33
Professor David Petley, a landslide expert and the Pro-Vice-Chancellor of the University of East Anglia, said that being up in the Himalayas during the earthquake was “the worst place to be”.

“The greatest intensity of tremor is felt on the ridges and peaks,” said Professor Petley. “It’s a bit like with a tuning fork - the shaking is most intense at the top.”

He said the earthquake would “pop” rocks off the side of the mountains, and could rain them down on anyone below.

“It must have been truly horrifying to be there.”

16.26
Drone footage shows the damage done to Kathmandu by Saturday's 7.8-scale earthquake, and subsequent aftershocks.


16.11
The death toll from Saturday's earthquake has now risen above 4,000 people.

Nepal police said on their Facebook page late on Monday evening that 3,904 deaths had been counted in Nepal and 7,180 people were injured.

In addition, an avalanche caused by the earthquake on Saturday killed 18 people at Mount Everest's base camp, 61 people were killed in neighbouring India, and China reported 25 people died in Tibet.

The toll is expected to rise as assessments are made in vulnerable mountain villages that have been inaccessible since the quake.

15.45
The Gurkha 200 Everest Expedition has revealed more about their ordeal on the mountain during the earthquake.

Brig Ian Rigden said the 14 members and their sherpas who had been trapped at Camp 1 had all been airlifted down to Base Camp, where they are helping recovery efforts. He said:

They are all in good spirits. Base Camp is unrecognisable and there is a considerable amount of work to do to secure it, help other teams and salvage what they can. The plan now is to assist at Base Camp for the next two days, when they will be joined by our expedition doctor (a former Everest summiteer and Reservist, who was making his way to join the team for the major climb phase) who is walking in.

They will then extract themselves to Kathmandu on foot and by whatever means they can achieve. They have a very wide range of useful skills and the focus now is to assist the people of Nepal.

The team has had a significant ordeal at Camp 1, surviving the follow-on after-shock earth tremors and numerous avalanches around their immediate area. Our team has been exemplary throughout and a great credit to the Brigade.

15.21
There are unverified reports of people being turned away from overcrowded hospitals in Kathmandu:

Kathmandu Medical College hospital is returning earthquake-injured people because they can't pay fees. #Nepal https://t.co/0p3d6voIhL

— Anup Kaphle (@AnupKaphle) April 27, 2015
15.09
Alex Schneider and Sam Chappatte, both 28, the British couple caught in a deadly avalanche at Mount Everest's Camp 1, have been tweeting about the rescue operation through the day:

There is a mass exodus from camps 1&2, never seen so many choppers #Everest2015 #Istherestillhope http://t.co/u6yfmzFsTG

— Sam & Alex (@AdventureSOC) April 27, 2015
There is a mass exodus from camps 1&2, never seen so many choppers #Everest2015 #Istherestillhope http://t.co/u6yfmzFsTG

— Sam & Alex (@AdventureSOC) April 27, 2015