At least 3,600 people are known to have died after a massive earthquake struck Nepal on Saturday, officials say.

An international rescue effort has been launched to find and help survivors, but the death toll continues to mount as rescuers reach more remote areas.

Tent cities have sprung up around the capital Kathmandu, as residents fear returning to their homes where the roofs may collapse in the continued aftershocks.

A 6.7 magnitude aftershock hit the region on Sunday.

At least 6,500 people have been injured, according to the National Emergency operation Centre.

Dozens of people are also reported to have been killed as a result of the quake in neighbouring India and China.

A senior official from Nepal’s Gorkha district, the location of the earthquake’s epicentre, told AP that the region was in desperate need of help and he had heard reports of communities where 70% of the houses had been destroyed.

Roads around the epicentre of the quake have now been cleared, and rescue teams are making their way to bring aid to those most desperately in need of shelter and clean water.

The magnitude 7.9 earthquake is the worst to have hit Nepal in 80 years.