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In the days ahead, he said, the focus will be on providing shelter, health care, and food.

The immediate work was hampered by an aftershock that struck Nepal and India on Sunday and triggered even more avalanches in the Himalayan mountains.

The tremor on Sunday was 6.7 magnitude, less than the 7.8 quake that struck on Saturday.

On Saturday evening, Defence Minister Jason Kenney tweeted that the government was deploying a Disaster Assistance Response Team (DART) to Nepal immediately in response to the earthquake.

DART is a military team designed to deploy on short notice to deal with natural disasters or humanitarian emergencies.

On Sunday, Lauren Armstrong, an aide to Kenney, provided further details.

“We are deploying the DART Assessment Team to determine the needs on the ground,” she said. “This team includes Light Urban Search and Rescue personnel and medical staff, and the flight will have humanitarian supplies on board.”

Photo by Bernat Armangue / The Associated Press

The team was scheduled to depart from Canadian Forces Base Trenton on Sunday evening.

Canada is also contributing $5 million to relief efforts, said Foreign Affairs Minister Rob Nicholson’s office.

Other humanitarian groups involved in helping out with the disaster relief include UNICEF, the Canadian Red Cross and World Vision Canada.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper expressed his condolences about the earthquake and said Canada was prepared to help out in the wake of the disaster.

“On behalf of all Canadians, Laureen and I offer our heartfelt condolences to the people of Nepal and northern India who lost family and friends in this powerful earthquake and its aftershocks,” he said.

“The thoughts and prayers of all Canadians are with the many affected by this disaster and we wish a speedy recovery to all those injured.”

WARNING: EXTREME LANGUAGE ON THE FOLLOWING VIDEO