Dozens dead as Nepal rocked by 7.3 magnitude earthquake

At least 42 people are reported dead and nearly 1,000 injured as another powerful earthquake hit Nepal, flattening buildings 30 miles away. It comes less than three weeks after the impoverished country was devastated by a 7.8-magnitude earthquake, which killed at least 8,000 people and injured more than 17,800. The U.S. Geological Survey has upgraded the latest quake - which struck at lunchtime on Tuesday - from 7.1 to 7.3 magnitude. It hit near Mount Everest, and was measured at a shallow depth of about 12 miles (19 km). The epicentre was around 40 miles west of Namche Bazaar, a remote area near the Tibet border.

Our earthquake alarm went off in the building and we dived under tables and the shaking seemed to go on and on. Everyone was very shaken up. We got out as quickly as we could.

UNICEF communications officer Rose Foley

It was followed by two aftershocks of magnitudes 6.3 and 5.6. Four people died as several buildings, including a six-storey office block, collapsed in Chautara, Sindhupalchok, about 30 miles from the epicentre. Norway’s Red Cross, based at a 60-bed hospital in the town, said there were “many injured, several killed”. Tino Kreutzer, who is in Chautara, said the quake lasted around 40 seconds as hundreds ran into the streets. Two people were reportedly killed as the tremors hit northern India. In the capital New Delhi, people fled outside as buildings swayed. The quake was about two miles deeper than the 25 April quake. Shallower quakes tend to cause more damage at the surface.

The earth outside as the aftershocks were hitting felt like you were on a boat on a rough sea. People were very shaken up and anxious.

Rose Foley

Asia-Pacific nepal