Nepal earthquake: Death toll reaches 42, over 1,100 injured; tremors felt across India
The 7.3-magnitude quake struck at 12:35 pm, some 76 kilometres (47 miles) east of Kathmandu, the US Geological Survey said, after a 7.8-magnitude quake on April 25 killed more than 8,000 people. Tuesday's quake was felt as far away as New Delhi, and officials said it caused buildings to collapse in Tibet in neighbouring China, killing at least one person there.
A second tremor of 6.3-magnitude struck Nepal around half an hour later, followed by yet more aftershocks, according to the USGS..
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Nepalese television showed buildings including parliament swaying as the earth moved underneath, while footage also emerged of fresh landslides in rural areas.
"At an hour of a natural disaster like this, we have to face it with courage and patience," Nepal's Prime Minister Sushil Koirala said after an emergency meeting of his cabinet.
The ground swayed for close to a minute from the first of Tuesday's tremors, according to an AFP correspondent in Kathmandu. "We felt it and suddenly there were huge crowds running up and down," said resident Suresh Sharma, who was in a vegetable market at the time. "It was very scary and very difficult to make my way out," said 63-year-old. "The last time we had the big quake I ran out of my house and barely escaped. This one felt just like that one. I can't believe it's happening again."
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The International Organization for Migration (IOM), which has a number of teams on the ground in the wake of the April 25 quake, said four people were crushed to death when buildings collapsed in Chautara, east of Kathmandu. Police said at least three people had been killed in the Kathmandu Valley while more than 300 people had been injured in the city itself.
Several buildings collapsed in the isolated town of Chautara, with at least four people killed, according to Paul Dillon, a spokesman with the International Organization for Migration.
A rescue team from the agency has begun searching through the wreckage of the little town, he said.
IOM's Paul Dillon from @IOM_Nepal says quake hit #Kathmandu moments ago. Streets full of people, screaming children pic.twitter.com/a3w7566trJ
— IOM (@IOM_news) May 12, 2015Chautara has become a hub for humanitarian aid in the wake of a major April 25 quake that killed more than 8,150 people and injured more than 17,860 as it flattened mountain villages and destroyed buildings.
Tuesday's quake was deeper, however, coming from a depth of 18.5 kilometers (11.5 miles) versus the April 25th quake that hit 15 kilometers (9.3 miles). More shallow earthquakes tend to cause more damage at the surface.
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It was followed closely by at least six aftershocks measuring from magnitude 5.6 to magnitude 6.3. The international airport in Kathmandu, which has become a transport hub for international aid, was closed temporarily, while traffic snarled in the streets of Kathmandu.
Shaking went on and on
Rose Foley, working in Kathmandu for the UN's children's fund UNICEF, said staff dived under tables. "The shaking seemed to go on and on. We got out to safety as soon as possible. Sitting out in the open it felt like I was on a boat on rough seas as aftershocks hit," she said by email.
Although the latest quake did not appear to be as severe as the April 25 one, residents were terrified that buildings that were already badly damaged could come crashing down. "I was thinking of moving to a rented room, but today was so scary I can't risk my family's life," Dipak Koirala, who has been living under a tent since April 25, said by phone from central Ramechhap district.
"We will continue to stay in the tent but it's wet here and the rain came into the tent, which we are sharing with 24 people."
Kathmandu's Tribhuvan International Airport, the main entry point for flights bringing in aid, was briefly closed again Tuesday as a precaution but reopened after a couple of hours. Whole villages were destroyed in the April 25 quake while large parts of Kathmandu were destroyed, leaving tens of thousands homeless. Relief teams from around the world are still working to provide water, food and medical assistance to Nepalis.
Patients wheeled out of hospital
On Tuesday at the main hospital in Kathmandu, patients hurt in last month's quake were brought out in wheelchairs to avoid further injury. People could be seen frantically calling their families as medical attendants rushed to set up tents in the car park. The capital was filled with the sound of car horns as desperate residents rushed to get back home to check on loved ones.
Pramita Tamrakar, who had only just reopened her family's furniture store, said she had rushed out onto the street after grabbing her eight-year-old son and 12 year-old daughter. "I don't understand what is going on," she told AFP. "I saw in the news the day before yesterday that the risk was lower, it wouldn't happen again... and today we had a big one. I am very scared. My children are also very scared."
Nepalese police urged people to stay outside and avoid jamming the fragile cellphone network. The quake was also felt some 1,000 kilometres away in the Indian capital where buildings shook and workers evacuated offices. Other cities in northern India were also rocked, including Bihar where television footage showed goods toppled over in shop windows.
A Chinese official at the Tibet regional seismological bureau said there had been reports that houses damaged on April 25 had now collapsed. While nearly all of those killed by the April 25 quake were in Nepal, around 100 victims also died in India and China.
In the capital of Kathmandu, the quake sent people rushing outside of their homes. Police gave no immediate estimates of damage.
Indian Embassy spokesman Abhay Kumar said some buildings in Kathmandu collapsed, but he gave no further details about how many or where they were. Experts say the April 25 quake caused extensive structural damage even in buildings that did not topple, and that many could be in danger of future collapse.
Rasmus Baastrup, a Dane from Doctors Without Borders, said in a live interview with Denmark's TV2 channel "I walked out quickly. I couldn't run because the earth was shaking so much that it was impossible to run." Baastrup, speaking from Kathmandu, said he had been told that all staff with Doctors Without Borders were alive but was not more specific.
Video: People rush to the open space at Kathmandu Airport, after 7.4 earthquake in Nepal https://t.co/CYgFw00Fwl
— JAAG TV (@JaagAlerts) May 12, 2015Norway's Red Cross, which was helping people from the April 25 earthquake at a 60-bed hospital in Chautara in central Nepal, said on Twitter in Norwegian that there were "many injured, several killed" and added that their hospital tents already has gotten patients. "People are terribly scared. Everyone ran out in the streets because they are afraid of being inside the houses," Norwegian Red Cross Secretary-General Asne Havnelid told Norwegian broadcaster NRK.
At the Norvic Hospital in Kathmandu, patients and doctors rushed to the parking lot. "I thought I was going to die this time," said Sulav Singh, who rushed with his daughter into the street in the suburban neighborhood of Thapathali. "Things were just getting back to normal, and we get this one."
"This was a jolt just like the big one last month, though it was not that long," said Kathmandu resident Avinav Shrestha. "I was very scared, though. Anything can happen."
Strong shaking was also felt across northern India. In the Indian capital of New Delhi, people scrambled outdoors while buildings swayed. Across the Nepalese border in Tibet's Jilong and Zhangmu regions, the Earth shook strongly. Tremors were also felt slightly in the Tibetan capital, Lhasa.
"Rocks fell from the mountains," Jilong county government vice chief Wang Wenxiang was quoted as saying by China News Service. "There might be some houses collapsed or damaged. We are now checking on the condition of the people."
News of an earthquake hitting Nepal again has come. Several parts of India also felt the tremors. MHA is collecting more details and info
— Rajnath Singh (@BJPRajnathSingh) May 12, 2015Please do not panic and maintain calm. Earthquake situation is being closely monitored & officials are already in the field
— Arvind Kejriwal (@ArvindKejriwal) May 12, 2015
The impact was also felt in China and India where officials reported four people dead in the states of Bihar and Uttar Pradesh. Immediately after the quake around 12.35 pm, panic-stricken people were seen rushing out of buildings in Delhi. Metro services were immediately put on restricted mode with speeds being slowed down. Authorities said in many areas, high-rise buildings were being vacated.
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"This is a really big one," said Prakash Shilpakar, the owner of a handicrafts shop in Kathmandu who was trying to call his parents in the town of Bhaktapur, devastated in the April 25 quake.
Whole villages were destroyed in the April 25 quake while large parts of Kathmandu were destroyed, leaving tens of thousands homeless. Relief teams from around the world are still working to provide water, food and medical assistance to Nepalis following the quake. While nearly all of those killed by the April 25 quake were in Nepal, around 100 victims also died in India and China.
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