DHAKA: A powerful earthquake jolted mountainous Nepal on Tuesday, killing at least 66 people, including 17 in India and one in Chinese Tibet, bringing down buildings and triggering landslide less than three weeks after a devastating temblor left a swathe of destruction in the Himalayan nation.
Hundreds of terrified people rushed out of their homes and buildings toppled as the 7.3-magnitude earthquake, centred 68km west of the town of Namche Bazaar near Mount Everest, sent ripples in India all the way from the border states of Bihar and West Bengal to Gujarat and Delhi, reports Hindustan Times.
In Nepal the death toll reached 48, with 1,176 injured, police spokesperson Kamal Singh Bam said.
Seventeen people were killed in Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, the home ministry said in a statement, and Chinese media reported one person died in Tibet after rocks fell on a car.
"I was taking my afternoon nap after lunch and somehow managed to rush out with my baby. My house is safe but I am afraid to go inside," said Bimala Magar, a resident of Kathmandu’s Dhumbarahi.
More than 1,000 people were injured as the quake flattened buildings in Kathmandu and other parts of Nepal already weakened by the 7.9-magnitude April 25 earthquake.
The fresh tremors, which lasted nearly a minute, came just as residents of Kathmandu and other districts were picking up the pieces after last month’s quake that killed about 8,000 people and uprooted millions.
Rescue helicopters were sent to districts northeast of Kathmandu, where landslides and buildings, collapsed by Tuesday's quake, may have left people buried, the government said. Home ministry spokesperson Laxmi Dhakal named Sindhupalchok and Dolkha districts as the hardest hit.
Many people were still seen grouped together on roads and open spaces more than three hours after the quake which was followed by at least eight powerful aftershocks.
Parents were seen clutching children tightly and hundreds frantically tried to call relatives on their mobile phones. Shopkeepers closed their shops and the streets were jammed with people rushing to check on their families.
BDST: 0850 HRS, MAY 13, 2015
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** Dozens die in new Nepal tremor
