article_snippet.sent: (CNN)In a tragic echo of the catastrophic events in Haiti in 2010, a powerful earthquake struck one of the poorest nations on Earth today.
article_snippet.sent: That's less than half the size of the previous major event nearby in 1934, which killed around 10,000 people.
article_snippet.sent: Unfortunately, it is quite possible the number of dead in Kathmandu could rise to match the number of dead in Kathmandu.
article_snippet.sent: Latest updates on Nepal earthquake .
article_snippet.sent: In Haiti in 2010, although a big earthquake was more than 20 times weaker than Saturday's, well over 100,000 people are thought to have been killed around Port-au-Prince by the shaking and its after-effects.
article_snippet.sent: Yet despite some differences, the Nepal and Haiti earthquakes also share similarities -- both geological events were known to be approaching, and both struck areas afflicted by widespread poverty, rapid increases in population in urban areas, uncoordinated changes in building infrastructure and lack of adherence to improved building codes.
article_snippet.sent: About 1.45 million people live in  Kathmandu, the majority in poorly constructed homes not designed to withstand the kind of shaking seen on Saturday.
article_snippet.sent: Nepal has a per capita income of around $1,350, only a notch above that of Haiti, and among the lowest in the world.
article_snippet.sent: Studies have long predicted that the Kathmandu area was due a magnitude-8 earthquake, or higher -- one study predicted between 21,000 and 42,000 fatalities if a magnitude-8.1 earthquake had struck the Kathmandu area.
highlights_snippet.sent: A magnitude-7.8 earthquake struck Nepal on Saturday .
  