Nepal's devastating earthquake leaves survivors desperate for aid

Nepal is still reeling and worried about even more tremors after Saturday's massive earthquake. The quake had a magnitude of 7.9 on the Richter scale and the number of victims keeps climbing, the latest count, more than 4,000 people are dead. and as many as 5,000 injured. It leveled old buildings and ancient temples across the crowded Kathmandhu Valley ... and triggered a deadly avalanches on Mount Everest.

It is the worst earthquake the country has seen since 1934, when 8500 people were killed.

Ajay Uprety was in the ancient town of Bhaktapur near Kathmandhu, touring historic temples and palaces with some out-of-town friends ... when disaster struck. He spoke to The Current on Sunday from the city of Ghorka, the epicentre of the quake, where he was getting ready to deliver supplies to injured survivors as part of a team working for the International Medical Corps.

"We don't have enough food.  Not even a proper shelter.  We don't know how we will manage." - Earthquake survivor

Governments and aid agencies from around the world pledged assistance over the weekend. Canada will contribute $5 million to relief efforts and is dispatching DART, its Disaster Assistance Response Team ... the military team designed to deploy on short notice to deal with natural disasters or humanitarian emergencies.

But for people on the ground, aid and relief can't come fast enough ...

Ramyata Limbu is a reporter with Global Radio News. She was in Kathmandu. 

In the two days since the Nepal earthquake, the country has been reeling from the physical and emotional aftershocks. Aid agencies are desperately trying to get to the country and to bring food, water, medical attention and tents to where they are needed. 

Deepesh Thakur is World Vision International's Regional Advocacy Director for South Asia and the Pacific. He is based in the Phillipines but is originally from Nepal ...and just happened to be in Kathmandu for a conference when the earthquake struck.

Earthquake specialists may be troubled by news of Nepal's devastation, but they weren't entirely surprised. Many experts say they knew the region would be hit hard by another quake — they just couldn't say when. And they've been urging Nepal for years to upgrade its many old buildings in preparation for something like this.

Hari Kumar is the South Asia Coordinator for GeoHazards International, a group that focuses on worldwide quake risks. We reached him today in New Delhi.

This segment was produced by The Current's Idella Sturino, Ines Colabrese and Kristin Nelson.