AKIPRESS.COM - At least four out of seven Unesco World Heritage sites in the Kathmandu valley - three of them ancient city squares - were severely damaged by Saturday earthquake.

Nepali Times editor Kunda Dixit told the BBC that the destruction was "culturally speaking an incalculable loss", although he said monuments could be rebuilt.

In Bhaktapur, until now Nepal's best preserved old city, reports say half of all homes have been destroyed and 80% of temples damaged.

Among other buildings to collapse was the Dharahara tower, which once dominated the skyline of the capital Kathmandu but has now been reduced to a stump.

Built by Nepal's first prime minister in 1832, the site, also known as the Bhimsen Tower, was popular among tourists who would climb the more than 200 steps to the viewing deck at the top.

A mesh of palaces, courtyards and temples, Unesco calls it "the social, religious and urban focal point" of Kathmandu.

But later it emerged that two other Durbar squares, in Bhaktapur and Patan, had also fallen victim to the tremors.

The main temple in Bhaktapur's square lost its roof, while the 16th Century Vatsala Durga temple, famous for its sandstone walls and gold-topped pagodas, was demolished by the quake.

Several buildings in Patan's 3rd Century square were destroyed.

The Buddhist temple complex at Swayambhunath, founded in the 5th Century, has also been damaged.