Second earthquake strikes.
Frightened residents pour into streets as country’s capital is shaken again
KATHMANDU, NEPAL — A new earthquake killed dozens of people Tuesday and spread more fear and misery in Nepal, which is still struggling to recover from a devastating quake nearly three weeks ago that left more than 8,000 dead.
The magnitude-7.3 quake, centred between Kathmandu and Mount Everest, struck hardest in the foothills of the Himalayas, triggering landslides. It also shook the capital, sending thousands of terrified people into the streets.
Nepal’s parliament was in session when the quake hit, and frightened lawmakers ran for the exits as the building shook and the lights flickered.
At least 37 people were killed in the quake and more than 1,100 were injured, according to the Home Ministry. The toll was expected to rise as reports began reaching Kathmandu of people in isolated Himalayan towns and villages being buried under rubble, the UN said.
Tremors radiated across parts of Asia. In neighbouring India, at least 16 people were confirmed dead after rooftops and walls collapsed, India’s Home Ministry said. One death was reported in Tibet.
All of the nearly 200 Canadian Forces members in Nepal were safe and accounted for after the quake.
Some members of Canada’s Disaster Assistance Response Team were temporarily stranded while visiting remote villages after a landslide blocked their route back to their base, Camp Sumitra, about 70 kilometres northeast of Kathmandu.
The earthquake that hit April 25 killed more than 8,150 and flattened entire villages, leaving hundreds of thousands homeless.
At least three people were rescued Tuesday in Kathmandu, while nine were pulled to safety in the district of Dolkha, the government said.
Rescue helicopters were sent to mountain districts where landslides and collapsed buildings may have buried people. Home Ministry official Laxmi Dhakal said the Sindhupalchowk and Dolkha districts were the worst hit.
Search parties fanned out to look for survivors in the wreckage of collapsed buildings in Sindhupalchowk’s town of Chautara, which had become a hub for humanitarian aid after last month’s magnitude-7.8 earthquake, the country’s worst-recorded quake since 1934.
Impoverished Nepal appealed for billions of dollars in aid from foreign nations, as well as for medical experts.
The new quake came from a depth of 18.5 kilometres versus the earlier one at 15 kilometres. Shallow earthquakes tend to cause more damage.
There were at least 10 strong aftershocks Tuesday, the U.S. Geological Survey said.
At least two buildings collapsed in Kathmandu, though at least one had been unoccupied because of damage it sustained April 25. Experts say the earlier quake caused extensive structural damage even in buildings that did not topple, and that many could be in danger of collapse.
Frightened residents in the capital, who had returned to their homes only a few days ago, once again set up tents Tuesday night with plans to sleep in empty fields, parking lots and on sidewalks.
“Everyone was saying the earthquakes are over. ... Now I don’t want to believe anyone,” 40-year-old produce vendor Ram Hari Sah said as he searched for a spot to pitch the orange tarpaulin to shelter his family. “We are all scared, we are terrified. I would rather deal with mosquitoes and the rain than sleep in the house.”
Extra police were sent to patrol ad-hoc camping areas, while drinking water and extra tents were being provided.
“I thought I was going to die this time,” said Sulav Singh, who rushed with his daughter into a street in the suburban neighbourhood of Thapathali. “Things were just getting back to normal, and we get this one.”
Paul Dillon, a spokesman with the International Organization for Migration, said he saw a man in Kathmandu who had apparently run from the shower with shampoo covering his head. “He was sitting on the ground, crying,” Dillon said.
New landslides blocked mountain roads in the district of Gorkha, one of the regions hit hardest April 25.
Residents of the small town of Namche Bazaar, 50 kilometres from the epicentre of Tuesday’s quake and a well-known spot for high-altitude trekkers, said a couple of buildings damaged earlier had collapsed. There were no reports of deaths or injuries in the town.