42 killed, over 1000 injured in Nepal earthquake; toll in India rises to 17

The earthquake struck at 12:35 PM, some 83 kilometres east of Kathmandu near Mount Everest at a shallow depth of 15 kilometres, the US Geological Survey said.

The agency had earlier measured the quake at 7.4 on the Richter Scale but later revised the intensity to 7.3.

The quake hit Dolakha and Sindhupalchowk districts – the worst-affected areas in the last month’s temblor.

The fresh quake triggered massive panic among the people, who have been staying in the open since the 7.9-magnitude temblor struck on April 25, killing over 8,000 people and flattening thousands of buildings besides destroying whole villages.

Delhi-NCR along with the whole of north India witnessed fresh tremors lasting up almost more than a minute. People were seen rushing out of offices and residential complexes. Delhi Metro services were briefly disrupted.

[Read: This one was big but the big one is yet to come]

The tremors come just weeks after a massive 7.9 earthquake rattled the Himalayan kingdom and its capital Kathmandu killing more than 8,000 people and flattening several centuries-old heritage structures.

Home Minister Rajnath Singh has tweeted saying that his ministry is in the process of collecting more details and information. He added that the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) has been kept on alert.

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Please RT pic.twitter.com/ZZ2oiKQ36f

— Doordarshan National (@DDNational) May 12, 2015

7:22 pm: Death toll rises to 42 in Nepal

6:09 pm:

Death toll in #India #earthquake-17, 16 in Bihar, 1 in UP, 39 injured @IndianExpress

— vijaita singh (@vijaita) May 12, 2015

6:09 pm:

National Crisis Management Committee (NCMC) headed by Cabinet Secretary to hold meeting on #Nepal and India #earthquake @IndianExpress

— vijaita singh (@vijaita) May 12, 2015

5:40 pm: Death toll in Bihar rises to 6, 21 injured

4:56 pm: Nepal’s Home Ministry says at least 36 people killed and 981 injured in latest earthquake.

3:05 pm: Four people have been confirmed killed in Bihar after the latest earthquake triggered tremors in India. The casualties have been reported in Patna, Darbhanga, Samastipur and Siwan.

2: 53 pm: Prime Minister Narendra Modi has called a high-level meeting with officials to take stock of the situation. He has directed all authorities to carry out relief and rescue operations as and when required.

PM took stock of the situation following the fresh major earthquake felt in Nepal and parts of India, at a high-level meeting.

— PMO India (@PMOIndia) May 12, 2015

PM directed all concerned authorities to be on alert for carrying out rescue and relief operations, as required.

— PMO India (@PMOIndia) May 12, 2015

2: 52 pm: Two people have been killed after a wall collapsed in Bihar following the earthquake, PTI reports.

2:43 pm: This picture tweeted by Dambar Kr Shreshta, a Nepali journalist, shows a four-storey building having collapsed to rubble.

Earthquake in Nepal: This picture tweeted by @Dambarks shows a four-storey building reduced to rubble.

2:38 pm: Here’s a map showing the epicentre of the quake. The spot is close to the Mt Everest base camp.

Earthquake in Nepal today: A map showing the epicentre of the 7.4 magnitude.

2: 31 pm: Flightradar24 reports that a Jet Airways flight destined for Kathmandu has been diverted to Lucknow because of closure of airport there.

Jet Airways flight #9W266 to Kathmandu is diverting to Lucknow because of Kathmandu Airport closure. pic.twitter.com/bvRxMBIG59

— Flightradar24 (@flightradar24) May 12, 2015

2: 19 pm: Meanwhile, the Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal has asked people in the national capital to maintain calm post the tremors.

Please do not panic and maintain calm. Earthquake situation is being closely monitored & officials are already in the field

— Arvind Kejriwal (@ArvindKejriwal) May 12, 2015

2: 12 pm: Officials in Kathmandu are saying that the extent of the damage of the newest earthquake is yet to be assessed. The strong aftershocks have rattled the residents who were hit by an earlier massive 7.9 quake on April 25.

2:07 pm: The Nepal Police advises citizens to stay in open field and not use cell-phones which could lead to jamming of networks.

Please stay in open field, help us make free road, do not make phone nw busy. SMS is suggested.

— Nepal Police (@NepalPoliceHQ) May 12, 2015

1: 58 pm: People evacuated high-rise buildings in Vadodara, Gujarat after quake panic.

Earthquake in India: People in Vadodara, Gujarat evacuated high-rise buildings after quake panic (Express photo by Bhupendra Rana)

1: 54 pm: The Associated Press quotes an international agency saying that 4 people have been killed in the Nepali town of Chautara.

BREAKING: International agency confirms newest earthquake killed at least 4 in Nepal town of Chautara

— The Associated Press (@AP) May 12, 2015

1: 49 pm: The epicentre of the earthquake is close to the Mount Everest base camp.

1:30 pm: Watch video of scenes inside the Indian Express office during the earthquake here

(With inputs from Yubaraj Ghimire)

Here’s what people on Twitter are saying about the recent tremors to have rocked north India.