Fresh 7.3 magnitude earthquake strike today

At least 16 people were injured and hundreds injured after a massive 7.3 magnitude earthquake hit Nepal on Tuesday triggering tremors which were felt in Delhi and other parts of north India.

In capital Kathmandu and other parts of Nepal, the quake also flattened buildings which were damaged during the monster 7.8 quake of April 25.

“Dolakha and Sindhupalchowk have been affected most by today’s quake. Many houses collapsed in these two districts. Several houses have been destroyed in Kathmandu and neighbouring Lalitpur and Bhaktapur towns,” said Nepal home ministry spokesperson Laxmi Prasad Dhakal

Norway’s Red Cross said there were “many injured, several killed” and that their hospital tents in Chautara in central Nepal already had received patients.

The tremors, which lasted nearly a minute, also killed at least 12 in different parts of Bihar and jolted most parts of Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Assam, Odisha and West Bengal. They were felt in places as far south as Chennai.

People rushed outside of offices and houses in panic when the tremors hit around 12:35pm.There were reports of damages to buildings in West Bengal and Sikkim. Further details are awaited.

In Delhi, Metro services were immediately put on restricted mode with speeds being slowed down.Home minister Rajnath Singh said the National Disaster Response Force( NDRF) has been put on alert to deal with any emergency .The US Geological Survey located the epicentre 83 kms from Kathmandu near the border with China. It had earlier measured the quake at 7.4. The quake came from a depth of 15 kms, nearly the same as that of the April 25 quake.

The second one of 6.3 magnitude, which hit less than an hour later, was epicentred at Kodari in south east Nepal. There seven aftershocks within two hours of the first one.A 6.9 magnitude earthquake, with its epicentre in Afghanistan, also hit around the same time as the first quake, according to the Indian home ministry

Parents could be seen clutching children tightly and hundreds of people were frantically trying to call relatives on their mobile phones. Shopkeepers closed their shops and the streets were jammed with people rushing to check on their families.Nepal Police sent out tweets asking residents to clear the roads for movement of rescue workers.Police also asked people not to clog the mobile network with calls and use SMS’ for sending information.

The quake’s epicentre was close to Everest Base Camp, which was evacuated after an avalanche triggered by the April 25 quake killed 18 climbers. Mountaineers seeking to scale the world’s tallest peak have called off this year’s Everest season.

The April 25 earthquake in Nepal killed more than 7,800 people and injured thousands more. The government figures show that tens of thousands of houses have been demolished and assistance is immediately needed for 400,000 families.

The UN estimates that as many as 8 million people have been affected by the 7.8 magnitude earthquake.