The earth shook hard Saturday morning in Kathmandu, Nepal.

“Everything was falling,” Wichita State graduate Chahana Sigdel said via email. “A vase fell on me. My dad and sis were outside, and I screamed for Grandma, who was making her way downstairs.”

Before going into work that morning at The Kathmandu Post, Sigdel was visiting with family when the 7.8 quake shook Nepal, destroying its historical landmarks, leveling rural villages and causing avalanches on Mount Everest, which rests on the border of Nepal and China.

“The intensity of the quake was unimaginable,” she said. “As I tried to duck under a table, I was thwarted in another direction and fell.”

Sigdel and her family slowly made their way outside. Everyone was OK, but it took the entire day to locate family and extended family.

Meanwhile, back at WSU, associate political science professor Ken Ciboski was concerned for one of his former students.

“As soon as I saw it” in the New York Times, Ciboski said he sent a Facebook message to Sigdel, who graduated from WSU in 2011 with a degree in communication. Through social media, he said he’s been able to keep up with students and their careers.

Sigdel — a native of Kathmandu — responded that everything was all right.

“We’ve been in touch all these years through Facebook,” she said. “[I’ve] been getting many messages from friends from Wichita and all over the world who are very worried about the situation here.”

The death toll in Nepal has reached more than 4,600 as of Tuesday night, according ekantipur.com, a news site Sigdel is helping to publish online coverage of the quake. The injured total more than 9,000.

On Sunday, Sigdel said she put on her “reporting hat” and went to work at the Kathmandu Post. The newsroom had to relocate to a makeshift tent. She visited a few hospitals, where she said, “it’s heartbreaking to see so much pain.”

“I wish I could go report [in the rural area] but it’s too risky,” she said. “Entire villages have been flattened, there are no roads and people have no means of communication.”

There were 98 large-scale aftershocks in 72 hours, Sigdel said. Families have been sleeping outside for fear of future aftershocks, which have began to subside since Saturday.

“Things have changed,” Sigdel said. “The city has changed. The whole country has changed. Everyone is scared.”

Through Facebook, Ciboski said he’s able to keep in touch with Sigdel.

“My concern is that they can get recovered, and they will go on,” he said. “I think social media is very useful for this sort of thing … It’s more instant and better means for communication.”

Sigdel said many volunteers have arrived to help with rescue efforts, but bad weather has slowed the helicopters from retrieving the injured.

“Amidst the chaos, it’s great to see volunteers spring to action,” she said. “From local volunteers to international concern — the response is very encouraging.

“It’s heartwarming to see people wanting to help. As the saying goes: ‘It’s the thought that counts.’”