Short Documentary: What It's Like To Be In Nepal After The Earthquake
The Sun Will Rise Again - A Song For Nepal - Gaurav Dagaonkar
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, centered midway between Kathmandu and Mount Everest, struck hardest in the foothills of the Himalayas, triggering some landslides, but it also shook the capital badly, 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 out.
At least 37 people were killed in the quake and more than 1,100 were injured, according to the Home Ministry. But that toll was expected to rise as reports began reaching Kathmandu of people in isolated Himalayan towns and villages being buried under rubble, according to the U.N.’s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.
Tremors radiated across parts of Asia. In neighboring India, at least 16 people were confirmed dead after rooftops or walls collapsed onto them, according to India’s Home Ministry. Chinese media reported one death in Tibet.
The magnitude-7.8 earthquake that hit April 25 killed more than 8,150 and flattened entire villages, leaving hundreds of thousands homeless in the country’s worst-recorded quake since 1934. The U.S. Geological Survey said Tuesday’s earthquake was the largest aftershock to date of that destructive quake.
Tuesday’s temblor was deeper, however, coming from a depth of 11.5 miles versus the earlier one at 9.3 miles. Shallow earthquakes tend to cause more damage.
At least three people were rescued Tuesday in Kathmandu, while another nine 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, the government said. 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 quake.
Impoverished Nepal appealed for billions of dollars in aid from foreign nations, as well as medical experts to treat the wounded and helicopters to ferry food and temporary shelters to hundreds of thousands left homeless amid unseasonal rains.
Tuesday’s quake was followed closely by at least 10 strong aftershocks, according to the USGS.
Early reports indicated at least two buildings had collapsed in Kathmandu, though at least one had been unoccupied due to damage it sustained on 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,” said 40-year-old produce vendor Ram Hari Sah 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, according to Kathmandu administrator Ek Narayan Aryal.
“I thought I was going to die this time,” said Sulav Singh, who rushed with his daughter into a street in the suburban neighborhood 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.
Meanwhile, new landslides blocked mountain roads in the district of Gorkha, one of the regions hit hardest on April 25, while previously damaged buildings collapsed with the latest quake.
Residents of the small town of Namche Bazaar, about 35 miles from the epicenter of Tuesday’s quake and a well-known spot for high-altitude trekkers, said a couple of buildings damaged earlier had collapsed there as well. However, there were no reports of deaths or injuries in the town.
The earth also shook strongly across the border in Tibet, unleashing a landslide that killed one person and injured three, according to China Central Television. Two houses also collapsed, the state broadcaster said, quoting disaster relief headquarters of the regional Tibetan government.
A collapsed building after the earthquake in Kathmandu, Nepal, on Tuesday. Dozens were killed Tuesday by the latest earthquake to hit the Himalayas, just 17 days after a massive quake leveled large parts of Kathmandu
Nepalese military personnel remove debris in search of survivors in Kathmandu on Tuesday.
Armed Nepalese police search for victims after a house collapsed in the quakes in Kathmandu.
People gather in the street in Kathmandu after Tuesday’s quakes.
Nepalese people gather in a temporary shelter after another earthquake in Bhaktapur, Nepal, Tuesday, May 12, 2015. A major earthquake has hit Nepal near the Chinese border between the capital of Kathmandu and Mount Everest less than three weeks after the country was devastated by a quake. (AP Photo/Tashi Sherpa)
In this photo provided by the International Organization for Migration (IOM), people gather in the street after an earthquake in Kathmandu, Nepal, Tuesday, May 12, 2015. A major earthquake hit Nepal near the Chinese border between the capital of Kathmandu and Mount Everest less than three weeks after the country was devastated by a quake. (Paul Dillon/IOM via AP)
Nepalese people gather in the middle of a road during an earthquake in Bhaktapur, Nepal, Tuesday, May 12, 2015. Another major earthquake has hit Nepal near the Chinese border between the capital of Kathmandu and Mount Everest.(AP Photo/Tashi Sherpa)
A husband passed salvaged belongings to his wife in their destroyed home in Bhaktapur, Nepal. A 7.8-magnitude earthquake hit Nepal on April 25th, killing more than 8,000 people at the latest count.
Members of a rescue team retrieved the body of an earthquake victim from the ruins of his home in Bhaktapur.
Villagers unloaded relief aid from an Indian Army helicopter in Ranehak, Nepal, near the epicenter of the quake. Since the earthquake struck in Nepal, the government instituted disaster-response plans, galvanizing the army and receiving planeloads of aid every day from dozens of countries.
Nepali villagers from Gorkha district were evacuated by an Indian Army helicopter.
Houses destroyed in the earthquake were seen on a hillside north of Kathmandu.
Villagers searched for their belongings in the rubble of their homes in the village of Barpak, Nepal.
Bishnu Gurung grieved the loss of her daughter, Rejina Gurung, 3, after discovering her body, found by neighbors in the rubble of their destroyed home in the village of Gumda, Nepal.
An elderly villager salvaged wood and other re-useable building materials from her destroyed home.
A Nepali villager injured by falling debris was evacuated from the village of Philim.
Villagers looked on as a helicopter with and relief supplies prepared to take off.
A Nepali girl sat on a bed frame, salvaged from the ruins of her family home in Barpak.
Saainli Gurung, center, mourned the death of her son after his body was discovered in the village of Barpak, Nepal, near the epicenter of the earthquake.
Victims of the earthquake were cremated at Pashupatinath Temple in Kathmandu.
Residents gather in an open area after an earthquake hit in Kathmandu, Nepal, on Tuesday. It was the second major earthquake in less than three weeks.
Traffic grinds to a halt in Kathmandu, Nepal, on Tuesday after another earthquake rocked the country.
Nepalese military personnel and International rescue check on a collapsed building after an earthquake in the center of Kathmandu.
Rescuers lifted a concrete wall off a woman trapped in rubble after the earthquake in the Nepalese capital, Katmandu, on Saturday. The woman was dead when rescuers reached her.
Local residents walk on a bridge, past collapsed buildings, after Tuesday's earthquake at Singati Village, in Dolakha, Nepal, May 15, 2015. REUTERS/Athit Perawongmetha
A man feeds pigeons near the debris of a collapsed temple after the earthquake in Kathmandu, Nepal, May 14, 2015. REUTERS/Navesh Chitrakar
A boy clears rubble from his home during a landslide after Tuesday's earthquake at Singati Village, in Dolakha, Nepal, May 15, 2015. REUTERS/Athit Perawongmetha
Women walk past a building damaged by earthquakes, causing it to lean to one side, in Sindhupalchowk district, Nepal(Ahmad Masood/Reuters)
People walk past buildings in Kathmandu after a second major earthquake struck(Athit Perawongmetha/Reuters)
A resident of Kathmandu walks past rubble following a second devastating earthquake(Jonas Gratzer/Getty Images)
A collapsed hotel is seen in Charikot Village, Dolakha, Nepal(Athit Perawongmetha/Reuters)
Collapsed buildings are pictured in Charikot Village in Dolakha after the second earthquake(Athit Perawongmetha/Reuters)
