The death toll in Nepal from Saturday's catastrophic earthquake has jumped to at

least 2,430, Nepal Home Affairs Ministry spokesman Laxmi Prasad Dhakal said Sun
day. More than 4,000 other people were reported injured in Nepal, the spokesman
said. India's death toll has reached 56, most of them in Bihar state, said Lt. G
en. N.C. Marwah, a senior official of India's National Disaster Management Autho
rity. Also, 17 Chinese nationals died in Tibet, according to Chinese state-run n
ews agency Xinhua. These figures bring the overall death toll to more than 2,500
.
[Previous story, posted at 12:19 p.m. ET]
They dug through rubble, looking for survivors but usually finding bodies. At ni
ght, they slept in open fields in the frigid night air. Food and clean water bec
ame rarities.
Life has always been hard for people in Nepal, one of the world's poorest nation
s, but on Sunday it became clear that day-to-day existence had turned into a str
uggle to survive. A series of earthquakes killed more than 2,000 people and left
the nation in shambles.
Stunned residents Sunday wandered the streets of Kathmandu, a city of 3 million
people that's now the focus of the world disaster relief efforts. They dug throu
gh piles of rubble where their homes once stood, seeking pieces of their former
life and, possibly, family members. Many of the injured were treated outside ove
rflowing hospitals, where crowds of people gathered looking for relatives.
Nepal, one of the world's most scenic spots, became a panorama of devastation.
"The journey towards my family home in Sitapaila was a map of quake destruction,
with many houses -- old and new -- torn apart," wrote freelance journalist Suni
r Pandey. "A high wall surrounding a monastery had collapsed and the nuns had ru
n to a nearby field. A mud-and-brick cottage had fallen on a blue motorbike but
no trace could be found of its rider."
Civilian rescuers carry a person on a stretcher in Kathmandu, Nepal, on Saturday
, April 25, after a magnitude-7.8 earthquake centered less than 50 miles from Ne
pal's capital left widespread destruction and death.
Powerful earthquake hits Nepal 35 photos
EXPAND GALLERY
At night, many Nepalis slept in the open, shivering in the frigid air of the Him
alayan Mountains but at least safe from falling debris.
The city's centuries-old buildings that stood stalwart for generations and provi
ded a sense of national pride have been toppled.
Dozens of bodies were pulled from Dharahara, the historic nine-story tower that
came crashing down during the quake. A backhoe chipped away at the nub left prot
ruding through its crumbled ruins.
When it seemed as if things couldn't get worse, a powerful aftershock jolted Nep
al on Sunday, sending people screaming into the streets and causing new injuries
for already traumatized residents. Climbers also said it set off fresh avalanch
es on Mount Everest, where at least 17 people were reported to have been killed
on Saturday.
The magnitude of the new quake Sunday was initially estimated at 6.7 by the U.S.
Geological Survey, considerably weaker than the 7.8 magnitude of the devastatin
g one of a day earlier.
Cheers for a survivor

Only a few bright moments occurred in Kathmandu.

A clip on Nepal State Television showed uniformed soldiers frantically digging t
hrough rubble in a tight space and slowly extracting a man in a while shirt and
a green belt. They slid the man onto a stretcher and carried him down a ladder t
o the street below where onlookers cheered.
Many other rescues were performed by regular citizens or tourists -- people dres
sed in street clothes who lacked stretchers and other proper tools. In one scene
, four men carried an injured man in their arms while a fifth man ran beside the
group, fanning the man's face with a magazine.