Nepal Earthquake Death Toll Nears 3,900 As Aftershock Reported Near India Border

The death toll from the magnitude-7.8 earthquake that ravaged Nepal on Saturday has risen to nearly 3,900 people, CNN reported Monday morning. The number is expected to rise throughout the day as rescuers reach more remote villages where the extent of the destruction is unknown.

Meanwhile, a magnitude-5.1 earthquake was reported Monday morning on the border between India and Nepal. It was one of many aftershocks in the area since the magnitude-7.8 quake hit.

The Monday aftershock occurred around 8:35 a.m. EDT, about 3 miles west of Karsiyang, India, and 13 miles east-southeast of Ilam, Nepal, the U.S. Geological Survey said. Tremors also were felt in Bhutan, about 100 miles from the aftershock’s epicenter.

The magnitude-7.8 quake, centered about 21 miles east-southeast of Lamjung, was the largest experienced in Nepal in nearly 80 years. The quake triggered an avalanche on Mount Everest that killed at least 17 people, the highest death toll ever recorded on the world’s highest peak. Those believed to have been killed in the quake included people in China, India and Bangladesh, the Associated Press reported.

Many remote villages were believed to have been hard hit. "There are people who are not getting food and shelter. I've had reports of villages where 70 percent of the houses have been destroyed,” Udav Prashad Timalsina, head official of Nepal’s Gorkha district, near the quake's epicenter, told the AP. While 223 people were confirmed dead in Gorkha, Timalsina said the number would go up "because there are thousands who are injured."

At least three Americans were among the dead: Google executive Dan Fredinburg; New Jersey resident Eva Girawong; and California resident Tom Taplin, CNN reported. About 250 Americans were in the U.S. Embassy in Kathmandu, Nepal, where they were given shelter and meals, ABC News correspondent Alexander Marquardt reported.