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At Least 42 Dead After Second Devastating Earthquake Hits Nepal

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download (18)Still reeling from last month’s devastating earthquake, Nepal was hammered again Tuesday by a magnitude 7.3 temblor that caused dozens more deaths, unleashed fresh landslides and brought down unsteady buildings.

By late afternoon, Nepal’s Home Affairs Ministry said at least 42 people were killed and more than 1,117 injured in the largest aftershock yet recorded from the 7.8 quake on April 25. Officials warned that the toll could rise.

The epicenter was about 47 miles northeast of the capital, Katmandu, near the Chinese border, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. The April 25 quake, which killed more than 8,150 people, was centered in the mountains west of Katmandu.

The tremor struck just before 1 p.m. local time, sending residents of the capital scurrying into the open air for safety, and was followed by a series of smaller tremors that rattled nerves even further.

Within hours, new makeshift tents had begun popping up in parts of Katmandu as families that had survived the earlier quake and returned to their homes in recent days decided again they were safer sleeping outdoors. (Read more from “At Least 42 Dead After Second Devastating Earthquake Hits Nepal” HERE)

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Nepal Quake Toll Passes 6,200, $2 Billion Needed for Reconstruction

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Mamta Gadal waits to hear from the rescue team of news of her husband, who is trapped under a collapsed building, after Saturday’s earthquake, in KathmanduThe death toll from Nepal’s devastating earthquake rose steadily past 6,200 on Friday as fresh aftershocks and the stench of rotting bodies made it hard for nervous survivors to return to their homes.

Disposal of the hundreds of bodies still being found six days after the 7.9 magnitude quake devastated the Himalayan nation of 28 million people was becoming a problem for officials, who have ordered immediate cremations.

“Morgues are full beyond capacity and we have been given instruction to incinerate bodies immediately after they are pulled out,” said Raman Lal, an Indian paramilitary force official working in coordination with Nepali forces.

Aid was slowly beginning to reach remote towns and villages nestled in the mountains and foothills but the overpowering smell of bodies trapped beneath the rubble of collapsed buildings in the capital was making it hard for residents to return to their homes.

Finance Minister Ram Sharan Mahat said Nepal would need at least $2 billion to rebuild homes, hospitals, government offices and historic buildings and appealed for help from international donors. (Read more from “Nepal Quake Toll Passes 6,200, $2 Billion Needed for Reconstruction” HERE)

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Nepal Death Toll Tops 5,000 as Rescuers Reach Hard-Hit Rural Areas [+video]

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nepal-earthquake-updateMore than 10,000 people are now known to have been injured in Saturday’s 7.8-magnitude quake, home ministry national disaster management division chief Rameshwor Dangal told AFP.

Helicopters crisscrossed the mountains above the remote district of Ranachour Tuesday near the epicenter of the weekend earthquake, ferrying the injured to clinics and taking emergency supplies back to villages cut off by landslides.

Meanwhile, some 250 people were believed to be missing following a mudslide and avalanche in Ghodatabela, an isolated village not far from the epicenter of Saturday’s powerful earthquake.

District official Gautam Rimal said heavy snow had been falling Tuesday near the village. He said officials received initial reports of the disaster by phone but then lost contact.

The village, about a 12-hour walk from the nearest town, is along a popular trekking route, but it was not clear if the missing included trekkers. (Read more from “Nepal Death Toll Tops 5,000 as Rescuers Reach Hard-Hit Rural Areas” HERE)

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