President conveys his sympathies to those affected by earthquake in India, Nepal

In his Tweets, the President said, "Deeply distressed at loss of life & property due to earthquake in Nepal.”

“India committed to assist Govt. of Nepal in every way possible in dealing with situation," he said.

“Call upon State Governments and concerned agencies to take all necessary steps to provide relief to those affected by earthquake," Mukherjee said.

“Heartfelt condolences to families of deceased; prayers for speedy recovery of injured on account of earthquake," he said.

The earthquake, which measured 7.9 on the Richter scale, rocked Nepal as the death toll has touched 900 till evening, media reports said.

The Nepal government declared a state of emergency to handle the situation.

The quake, said to be strongest in Nepal in 80 years also rocked many parts of India killing at least 17 people.

The epicentre of the earthquake lay 80 km (50 miles) east of Pokhara in Nepal, United States Geological Survey (USGS) said.

The quake  pulled down buildings, temples and towers, felled trees and electric posts and left yawning cracks on roads across Nepal, specially in Kathmandu, the capital.

The historic Dharara Tower built in the 19th century in Kathmandu collapsed, trapping at least 50 people, Nepal media reported.

Efforts are on to recover more bodies from under heaps of rubble.

In India, the tremor was badly felt in places like Delhi, Rajasthan, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, West Bengal, Odisha and the northeastern states.

Reports of over 30 death came from Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal. While three deaths were reported from West Bengal, in Bihar 22 died, said reports. 

"An Earthquake of magnitude 7.9 occurred  today at 11.41 A.M  IST (Indian Standard Time) at a depth of 10 Km with its Epicentral Region located in Nepal about 80 Km NW of Kathmandu. Its Latitude and Longitude are 28.1 N and 84.6 E respectively," the  Indian government said in a statement.

As many as 14 aftershocks were also reported of much less magnitude till last reports came in.

"Immediately in about ten minutes of occurrence of the quake the Indian Tsunami Early Warning Center (ITEWC) of INCOIS- Indian Nation Center for Ocean Information Services and the IMD also sent alert to all higher authorities of the government indicating the epicenter and the magnitude of the quake," read the statement.