Tent cities have sprung up for those displaced by the earthquake in Nepal, which is now reported to have killed some 2,500 people.

Many residents of the capital, Kathmandu, lost their homes as a result of the tremor.

And others are afraid to return home - especially after strong aftershocks hit the region on Sunday.

It is estimated that hundreds of thousands of people in central Nepal are spending a second night outdoors.

The tremor also unleashed avalanches on Mount Everest, which killed at least 17 people and injured 61 others.

Efforts to dig victims out from under the rubble of collapsed buildings in Kathmandu continued.

Rescue missions and aid have started arriving to help cope with the aftermath of the worst earthquake to hit Nepal for more than 80 years.

The situation is still unclear in remote areas which remain cut off or hard to access.

The 7.8-magnitude quake struck an area of central Nepal between Kathmandu and the city of Pokhara early on Saturday.

Renewed panicNepal quake victims flee to tents

A powerful aftershock was felt on Sunday in Nepal, India and Bangladesh, and more avalanches were reported near Everest.

The 6.7-magnitude tremor, centred 60km (40 miles) east of Nepal's capital Kathmandu, sent people running in panic for open ground in the city.

It brought down some houses that had been damaged in the initial quake.

The Nepali Times said that some people who had ventured back to their homes had decided to spend another night in tents.

People were using any available open spaces, it said, including school playgrounds and courtyards, and even traffic islands.

At hospitals rattled by the aftershocks, staff moved sick and injured patients outside.

Doctors at Kathmandu Medical College set up an operating theatre inside a tent, Reuters news agency said.

"Both private and government hospitals have run out of space and are treating patients outside, in the open," Nepal's envoy to India, Deep Kumar Upadhyay, was quoted as saying.

"We have launched a massive rescue and rehabilitation action plan and lots needs to be done," Nepal's Information and Broadcasting Minister Minendra Rijal told Indian TV.

"Our country is in a moment of crisis and we will require tremendous support and aid."

Offers of help have come in from around the world. Some foreign teams have already arrived and are helping with search and rescue efforts.

BBC