(Newswire.net — April 26, 2015) — Kathmandu, Nepal – Only two days after devastating 7.9 magnitude earthquake hit Nepal killing almost 2000 people, another large quake hit the same area on Saturday.
The epicenter of 6.7 magnitude earthquake was 17km south of Kodari, an alpine village on the China-Nepal border. The new quake followed the 7.9 quake that left many of Nepal’s villages in ruins.
At first, it was thought as a ‘major aftershock’, according to AP. However, the magnitude of the tremor indicates it was a second earthquake. People near the epicenter were yelling and running for open ground, AP reported.
The massive earthquake triggered an avalanche in the Himalayan Mountains, as well as tremors in the Indian capital, New Delhi, more than 1000km away, AP reported. About 1,000 climbers, including 400 foreigners, had been at camp or on Everest when the quake hit, RT reported.
At this moment, there are no official report if the second earthquake caused casualties and reports of the scope of the damage. However, it is believed that the first one destroyed everything that was subject to a quake of that magnitude, so everything that left standing after first one is presumed to be still intact.
Reporters got the news of the new earthquake as it happened. “Another one, we have an aftershock right now, oh s***,” Indian mountaineer Arjun Vajpai told Reuters in a phone call made from the Mount Makula basecamp, located 12 miles (19km) from Everest.
Rescue teams and military are still searching for survivors from the first earthquake. The death toll has risen to 1,805 and 4,718 people have been injured, according to a Nepalese Home Ministry official.
At the time the quake struck, many of the victims were in the Kathmandu Valley.
The epicenter of the first quake was 80 kilometers northwest of Kathmandu, a city with a population about 1 million, at a depth of 31km.
The shallowness of the quake made it even more destructive as buildings were toppled and large cracks opened in roads, AP reported.