When the earth shook in Nepal (First Person)

It was a morning like no other. Life in Kathmandu was proceeding slowly with people enjoying the weekend when it happened. The earth shook!

People ran out from homes, shops screaming. With the quake measuring 7.9 on the Richter scale, over 1,000 buildings, including historical structures, collapsed.

There is no electricity here. When I tried to email my story about the situation here to my office in New Delhi, I could not. The internet was down.

I called up Nepal Police only to hear chilling news. Around 200 people in Kathmandu and over 500 people across the country are presumed dead.

The streets of Kathmandu were filled with people. Thousands of them.

The Tribhuvan International Airport has been shut down and all flights have been cancelled or diverted.

Highways have been damaged with cracks developing on the roads.

As many as 15 aftershocks were felt after the first earthquake.

(Anil Giri can be contacted at girianil@gmail.com)