Just weeks after a 7.8 magnitude tremor rocked Nepal leaving thousands dead, another strong earthquake hit the country on Tuesday. Today’s 7.4 magnitude quake emanated from a remote area near the border with China. So far, there are at least 29 known casualties and thousands of serious injuries.
More, via CNN [8]:
The shock waves rippled out from a remote area of eastern Nepal, near the border with China, leveling buildings already damaged by the devastating quake that killed thousands of people two and a half weeks ago.
The magnitude 7.3 earthquake Tuesday struck at a depth of about 15 kilometers (9 miles), the U.S. Geological Survey said, slightly revising its earlier estimates. A series of significant aftershocks, the strongest measuring magnitude 6.3, followed the initial larger quake.
The earthquake shook a country still picking up the pieces from the magnitude 7.8 quake that hit central Nepal on April 25, killing more than 8,000 people.
The epicenter of the new earthquake was about 75 kilometers east of Kathmandu, the Nepali capital where many buildings were destroyed in the earlier quake.
[Some of the] deaths were reported in the town of Chautara, about 35 kilometers east of Kathmandu, said Paul Dillon, a spokesman for the International Organization for Migration.
The bustling capital was once again plunged into panic as residents rushed into the streets.
"People are very scared and they don't know what is going on," said CNN iReporter Prashup Rajbhandari in Kathmandu. He said he thought the quake had cracked his house.
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More, from BBC [11]:
A major earthquake has struck eastern Nepal, near Mount Everest, two weeks after more than 8,000 died in a devastating quake.
At least 29 people have been killed and 1,006 injured, according to the Nepali government.
The latest earthquake hit near the town of Namche Bazaar, near Mount Everest.
The US Geological Survey said it had a magnitude of 7.3. An earthquake on 25 April, centred in western Nepal, had a magnitude of 7.8.
The latest tremor was also felt in northern India and Bangladesh, and was centred east of the Nepalese capital Kathmandu, in a rural area close to the Chinese border.
In Kathmandu, which was badly damaged last month, people rushed out of buildings as the quake struck at 12:35 local time (06:50 GMT).
Rescue helicopters have been sent to districts north-east of the capital, that are believed to be worst hit.
A spokesman for Nepal's government told the BBC that 31 of the country's 75 districts had been affected.
Here's a video we have just received from @redcrosscanada [12] near Dhunche, #Nepal [13], after today's #NepalQuake [14]. pic.twitter.com/R82VlU4PLs [15]
— IFRC (@Federation) May 12, 2015 [16]
More
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And the harsh reality, via The Economist [21]:
More quakes are sure to follow, in the years ahead if not in coming weeks. As the Indian tectonic plate pushes northwards, it is inevitable that more big earthquakes will strike at one of the most densely populated parts of the world.