EU approves $22 million in aid for quake-hit Nepal

Rescue workers remove debris as they search for victims of an earthquake in Bhaktapur near Kathmandu, Nepal on April 26, 2015.

The European Union has approved 20 million euros ($22 million) in financial support and emergency aid to help Nepal deal with the April 25 earthquake.

Monday’s EU commitment came after a request for help from the Nepalese government, which said it was facing a huge funding gap if there was no increase in international help. Beyond the 16.6 million euros in financial support and 3 million euros in emergency aid, EU Commissioner Neven Mimica said “as soon as the needs assessments are completed, we will look into how we can further assist.”

Nepal is one of the world’s poorest nations. The earthquake has claimed at least 7,200 lives and shattered the country’s economy.

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A selection of images capturing the extent of damage

These visualisations show how the intensity varied with distance from epicentre. > Read more The PM spoke to Nepal President and Chief Ministers of Bihar, Sikkim. > Read more Helpline no.s: +91 11 2301 2113, +91 11 2301 4104 and +91 11 2301 7905. > Read more

"Blind thrust" quakes are ones that do not break the surface, and tend to be more frequent. These records indicate that the region has a rich history of quakes in the past centuries. > Read more

A magnitude-7.8 earthquake shook Nepal’s capital and the densely populated Kathmandu Valley on Saturday, the worst quake in the Himalayan nation in over 80 years. A look at the world’s strongest earthquakes since 1900. > Read more