Nineteen people were killed in Nepal and 981 injured in an earthquake on Tuesday, home ministry official Laxmi Prasad Dhakal told Reuters, giving a first national estimate.
The quake, with a magnitude of 7.3, struck less than three weeks after a 7.8 temblor killed more than 8,000 people and damaged hundreds of thousands of homes in the Himalayan nation.
The U.S. Geological Survey said Tuesday’s earthquake was centred 68 km (about 42 miles) west of the town of Namche Bazar, close to Mount Everest and the border with Tibet. It was felt as far away as New Delhi and Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh.
The quake’s epicentre was close to Everest Base Camp, which was evacuated after an avalanche triggered by last month’s quake killed 18 climbers.
Last month’s quake killed at least 8,046 people and injured more than 17,800. It was recorded at 7.8 magnitude, almost six times stronger than Tuesday’s quake.
But a 7.3 magnitude earthquake has the potential to cause significant damage and landslides.
The Nepal government was scrambling to assess the damage as the phone network was affected and information was hard to attain.
Reuters