Nepal earthquake, magnitude 7.3, strikes near Everest

Ziggy | 12 May, 2015 08:43AM | Leave a comment

A major earthquake has struck eastern Nepal, two weeks after more than 8,000 people were killed in a devastating quake.


The latest earthquake hit near the town of Namche Bazar, 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 felt as far away as the Indian capital Delhi, as well as Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh.

Strong tremors were felt in the capital of Nepal, Kathmandu, which was badly damaged in last month's earthquake.

The BBC's Yogita Limaye, who is with an aid convoy in Nepal, says the latest quake went on "for a pretty long time."

She told BBC World News: "People have been terrified."

"This is a really big one," Prakash Shilpakar, the owner of a craft shop in Kathmandu, told the Reuters news agency.

People rushed from buildings in Kathmandu as the quake struck at 12:35 local time (07:50 GMT).

The epicentre of the latest earthquake was 83km (52 miles) east of Kathmandu, in a rural area close to the Chinese border.

It struck at a depth of 18.5km (11.5 miles), according to the US Geological Survey.

The 25 April quake was 15km (9.3 miles) deep. Shallower earthquakes are more likely to cause more damage at the surface.

-bbc