The Nepalese government's Chief Secretary, Lila Mani Poudyal, said his country was short of medical teams and relief materials, including "tents, dry goods, blankets, mattresses and 80 different medicines", the BBC reported on Monday.

"We don't have the helicopters that we need or the expertise to rescue the people trapped," he said. The need for doctors would grow as more survivors were pulled from the rubble, Poudyal added.

Matt Darvas, a spokesman for aid agency World Vision, said that entire villages of up to 1,000 people could have been buried by rock falls.
The quake, which struck on Saturday, is now known to have injured at least 7,000 people. Vast tent cities have sprung up in Nepal's capital, Kathmandu, for those displaced or afraid to return to their homes.

Several aftershocks have been reported - the latest on Monday night. Across the country, thousands are camping outside for the third night. There are shortages of water, food and electricity, and fears of outbreaks of disease.