Though the epicenter of the devastating earthquake that struck Nepal on Saturday was roughly 150 miles from Mount Everest, powerful shocks wrought destruction throughout the Khumbu region, where climbing season is in full swing with dozens of expeditions deployed among several mountains.

The quake triggered a massive avalanche that swept through Everest Base Camp. Initial reports say 18 people were killed with several seriously injured. Dozens of other climbers are stranded at camps farther up the mountain. (See pictures of the quake's devastation.)

“Running for life from my tent,” wrote a Romanian climber, Alex Gavan, in a tweet from Base Camp posted an hour after the earthquake. Gavan described a “huge avalanche” coming off Pumori, a 23,000-foot (7,000-meter) peak located