Narandra Shrestha

While many reports documenting the destruction have come from the capital Kathmandu, where hundreds of structures were demolished, and from Mount Everest, where an avalanche triggered by the quake killed at least 21 people in Base Camp, news from mountain villages in many regions remains ominously silent. Beyond the Kathmandu Valley, which is home to approximately 2.5 million people, the road network that connects rural Nepal is poorly maintained and unreliable even under normal circumstances.

As the scale of devastation continues to unfold in Nepal following Saturday's 7.8 magnitude earthquake, the collapse of the 183-year-old Dharahara Tower, which once loomed nine stories over the ancient city and modern capital of Kathmandu, has become a symbol of nation’s cultural loss.

The day after a devastating, 7.8 earthquake struck Nepal, approximately 60 survivors from a massive avalanche that blew through Base Camp on Mount Everest have been evacuated to the capital Kathmandu. Reports now indicate that at least 21 individuals died in the event, making it the most deadly day in the history of the mountain but paling in scale to the thousands who perished nationwide in the earthquake.