Peter Clark, 55, who has lived in Kathmandu for the past 8 months, hasn’t been heard from since Saturday’s deadly quake, which has claimed more than 1800 lives and cut off communications.

Mr Clark’s eldest son Jack, 22, said the family had heard indirectly that he was safe.

‘‘I’m hoping that that remains the case,’’ he said.

‘‘He’s a good guy at heart and I just hope he’s all right.’’

Having formerly lived in Dapto and, more recently, Kiama, Mr Clark moved over to Kathmandu last year when he and a group of friends purchased and renovated a bar. 

Ex-wife Becky Guggisberg said the family had heard through connections with an employee that Mr Clark was likely out of harm’s way.

‘‘He said he hadn’t actually seen (Peter) but he’s pretty confident that he’s in an area that’s ok, which is reassuring but I’m waiting for actual confirmation,’’ she said.

‘‘It’s very chaotic over there, the power is not reliable or the phones, so they’re struggling to make actual contact.’’

Mr Clark is now among the 900 people registered as missing on The Red Cross’s Family Links website.

Jack Clark said he and brother Max, 21, had been keeping in close contact throughout the weekend but were confident their father would be in contact soon.

‘‘We’re both a bit worried but we reckon he’ll be all right, you’ve just got to keep that positive mindset,’’ he said.

‘‘If you dwell on it with limited information then of course you’re going to think about the worst possible outcome and there’s no point working yourself up until you do get bad news, which I’m hoping that we don’t and I’m pretty sure we won’t.’’

More than 200 Australians have been confirmed safe but authorities are trying to contact hundreds of others missing after more than 2000 people were killed in a massive earthquake in Nepal.

 The government has committed $5million in aid and a crisis response team will travel to Nepal to look for the unaccounted travellers among the 549 Australians who registered with the foreign affairs department.

There are no reports of Australian deaths following Saturday’s 7.8-magnitude earthquake.

But worried family and friends have turned to social media.

Australian actor Hugh Sheridan’s brother is missing.

‘‘Please. Anyone who is awake, please pray for my little brother Zachary who is on Mt Everest,’’ Mr Sheridan tweeted.

Mother Deb Williams’ Brisbane-based son Jai was due to be at Mount Everest base camp on Saturday with his friend Ben Flanders.

After a nervous wait she was greeted with the news she had been waiting for.

‘‘The boys are safe,’’ she posted on Facebook.

West Australian Ballantyne Paige Forder contacted her family on Sunday after helping move the orphanage where she worked to a field.

Amanda-Sue Markham tweeted on Sunday: ‘‘My baby sister is safe. Prayers answered as she and the orphanage moved to safety’’.

Other families are still waiting for information on their loved ones.

Mitch Graves is at home in Sydney waiting for news on the fate of his 24-year-old brother Matthew Graves, who was travelling through Pokhara.

‘‘It’s a bit of a struggle trying to communicate to everyone. It is a waiting game at the moment,’’ he said.

The earthquake’s epicentre was about 80kilometres north-west of Kathmandu and it was  the worst to hit the area in 80 years, World Vision Australia chief Tim Costello said.

‘‘This is a huge disaster,’’ he said on Sunday.

‘‘As the full extent of this enormous tragedy emerges, every minute counts. We must act immediately to save lives and help those who are suffering.’’

About 200 World Vision staff in Nepal  were  dispatching emergency supplies, he said. Red Cross workers  were  administering first aid,  organising blood supplies for medical centres and providing food, shelter and water.

‘‘It’s now a race against time to rescue those trapped under rubble, help the injured and support the survivors,’’ Australian Red Cross’s Peter Walton said.

A team from the Fred Hollows Foundation with Australian, Vietnamese, Bangladeshi and Pakistani members was in Nepal when the earthquake struck but all have been confirmed safe.

The government has  pledged $5million aid will be split with $2.5million going to Australian NGOs, $2million being sent to support United Nations Partners and $500,000 offered to the Australian Red Cross.

Thousands of people are on the streets in Kathmandu where everything remains in the dark with power out, said an ActionAid Australia spokeswoman who had been in contact with colleagues in Nepal. Hospitals are still operating but thousands of injured people  were waiting for assistance at already-stretched medical centres, she said.

The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade  has opened its emergency call unit and updated travel advice for Nepal, warning of disruptions to communication, transport and tourist infrastructure.

Australians concerned for family and friends are asked to try to contact them directly before calling DFAT’s 24-hour consular emergency centre on 0262613305 or, within Australia, 1300555135.  

AAP