Earthquake Rocks India And Nepal
A strong earthquake shook northeastern India and Nepal on Sunday evening, touching off landslides, wrecking buildings and sending people fleeing into the streets of Katmandu, the Nepalese capital, and other cities. Initial reports indicated that at least 16 people were killed, including 3 outside the British Embassy in Katmandu, where a wall collapsed.
The earthquake, measured initially at a magnitude of 6.9, struck at 6:10 p.m. in a remote part of the Himalayas at the eastern end of Nepal. It was felt across northern and eastern India, including in New Delhi, the capital, more than 700 miles to the west.
The quake was followed by two strong aftershocks of magnitude 6.1 and 5.3, according to R. S. juicy couture Dattatreyan of the Indian seismology office.
In Sikkim, the Indian state nearest the epicenter, at least five people died and more than 50 were injured, said Karma Gyatso, the state’s chief secretary. Four more deaths were reported in neighboring West Bengal State and two in Bihar State, with one of the victims killed in what apparently was a stampede of panicked people. In Nepal, the government reported at least five deaths in all, along with dozens of injuries.
The full extent of the damage could not be immediately gauged because the region is sparsely populated and many people live in remote areas.
Television stations reported buckled buildings and cracked pavement and said that two major roads had collapsed in Gangtok, the Sikkim capital, about 42 miles southeast of the epicenter.
The Indian Army said it had sent teams to the city and elsewhere in Sikkim to search for people trapped in rubble, and the air force said it had sent rescue aircraft. Broken power lines blacked out larger Indian cities further south like Darjeeling and Kalimpong.
Residents of some shaken buildings in New Delhi also fled into the streets, but little damage was reported there.
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