A County Antrim man trekking in Nepal has described the devastation that he witnessed after the country's deadliest earthquake for more than 80 years.

More than 1,000 people have been killed in the earthquake.

The 7.8 magnitude quake struck an area of central Nepal between the capital, Kathmandu, and the city of Pokhara.

Barry Torrens, from Portrush, said his party were crossing a river when the earthquake struck.

"It was a tremendous rumble and the local guides were quite concerned. It was a very guttural shake underneath the feet, the top of the mountain started to fall down onto the highway - rocks and bricks and half the mountain started to come down into the river," he said.

"We stepped onto the other river bank, they brought out their mobile phones - the lead guide and the second in command, their houses had been destroyed as quick as that.

"We made our way back to Kathmandu and it was just a scene of devastation the whole way through."

Mr Torrens said buildings they had been in earlier that day were gone when they returned to their hotel.

"We left this morning at 10 o'clock to go on the trek and bought lunch from a shop on the corner from our hotel," he said.

"That shop is no longer there, the whole corner of our block just dropped."

He said his thoughts were with the local people affected by the disaster.

"It's the Nepali people - who are a lovely, lovely people - that we feel for. They just don't have the infrastructure to deal with this at all," Mr Torrens said.

"It's irrelevant what happens to us, we will be safe. It's an absolutely devastating tragedy for the Nepalese."

He said there had been further tremors since the earthquake.

There were also victims in India, Bangladesh, Tibet and on Mount Everest, where avalanches were triggered.

The government has declared a state of emergency in the affected areas, and help has been offered by countries around the world.

Little information has emerged from the epicentre, where extensive damage has been reported, and there are fears the death toll could rise yet further.