A series of earthquakes has been affecting Nepal and neighbouring states such as India, Bangladesh and the Chinese region of Tibet since 25 April. The first tremor, of magnitude 7.9, was devastating. The following day, 26 April, another earthquake of magnitude 6.7 struck Nepal. The provisional death toll stands at over 4,000 fatalities and more than 7,000 injured. To put the absolute scale of the event into perspective, the tremor that struck L'Aquila on 6 April 2009 was of magnitude 6.3 and caused 309 deaths and 1,500 injuries.

On 12 May, an earthquake struck Nepal again, near the border with China. According to the US Geological Survey (USGS), the tremor measured magnitude 7.4. The earthquake was also felt in northern India, as far as New Delhi.

The first quake was the most powerful to hit Nepal in the past 81 years, since 1934, when 8,500 people died. Both tremors triggered avalanches on Everest, the highest peak in the world (8,848 metres). Base camp was destroyed. Dozens of mountaineers were caught up in the disaster while camped on the mountain or in the course of their ascent.

In Kathmandu, the capital of Nepal, the death toll is reported to be 1,100, and it is not yet possible to estimate the damage or the number of buildings that have collapsed. Among these is the Dharahara tower, standing over 60 metres tall, which was a Unesco World Heritage Site together with the entire valley in which the city lies. Having only recently reopened to visitors, dozens of tourists were inside at the moment it collapsed.

Nepal is a relatively small country, roughly half the size of Italy, and has roughly half its population too: around 30 million people. It extends along the Himalayan chain, also known as the backbone of Asia, and is "wedged" between China and India. This position makes it one of the countries most prone to earthquakes, as it sits at the point where the Indian and Eurasian tectonic plates collide. The tension between them gave rise to the Himalayas, which stretch for approximately 2,500 kilometres and are home to the highest peaks in the world. Alongside Everest, K2 is also located here. Earthquakes of this magnitude are therefore not extraordinary and appear to occur at regular intervals: roughly once every 75 years.

The race to provide humanitarian aid and reconstruction efforts has already begun. At the forefront are China, India, the European Union and organisations such as the Red Cross and Médecins Sans Frontières. The number of people affected or in some way touched by the earthquakes is estimated at around eight million.