Yes, I am afraid it could be shockingly higher, possibly upwards of 100k is not out of the realm of possibilities

Thankfully it was during the day rather than at night. If it had been at night it would surly be worse but the data indicates that the cost of lives could be very extreme







[link to kathmanduquake.blogspot.co.nz]
Quoting: Anonymous Coward 33645830


and

[link to kathmanduquake.blogspot.co.nz]

Kathmandu, Nepal ranked first in GeoHazards International's study of 'Cities Vulnerable to Earthquake', followed by Istanbul, Turkey; Delhi, India; Quito, Ecuador; Manila, Philippines; and Islambad/Rawalpindi, Pakistan--all of which could expect fatalities in the tens of thousands if disaster struck. The only first-world cities on the list were in Japan: Tokyo, Nagoya and Kobe.

1. Kathmandu, Nepal: 69,000

A study by GeoHazards International predicted a 6.0 earthquake would kill approximately 69,000 people this growing city of about 1 million, the most densely populated district of Nepal.




And this quake is much larger .
This is truly horrifying .



[link to kathmanduquake.blogspot.co.nz]



Here is the pdf for the global study that listed Kathmandu as the number one concern for earthquake devastation

[link to geohaz.org]


Also note the second picture from this article that shows the map of the region and previous quakes. The 8.0 quake in 1934 claimed over 10,000 lives in Kathmandu and the epicenter is much further away from Kathmandu than the 7.9 that hit today.

[link to www.aljazeera.com]