Nepal quake toll reaches 688: government

KATHMANDU (Reuters) - The death toll from a powerful earthquake that struck Nepal on Saturday has risen to 688, a senior home ministry official told Reuters, with 181 people killed in the capital Kathmandu. The quake measuring 7.9 is the strongest to hit the country in 81 years. (Reporting by Gopal Sharma; Editing by Douglas Busvine)