7.4 magnitude strong earthquake hits Nepal

A strong earthquake shook Nepal on Tuesday, sending people in the capital Kathmandu rushing out on to the streets weeks after a devastating quake killed more than 8,000 people and destroyed hundreds of thousands of homes, eyewitnesses said.

The latest earthquake hit near the town of Namche Bazar, near Mount Everest.

The US Geological Survey said it had a magnitude of 7.4. An earthquake on 25 April, centred in western Nepal, had a magnitude of 7.8.

The U.S. Geological Survey said the quake had a magnitude of 7.1 and struck 68 km west of the town of Namche Bazar, close to Mount Everest.

“This is a really big one,” said Prakash Shilpakar, the owner of a handicrafts shop in Kathmandu who was trying to call his parents in the town of Bhaktapur, devastated in the April 25 quake.

Shockwaves were felt across northern India and as far away as the capital New Delhi, where buildings swayed for more than a minute and people scurried into the streets.

People in Kathmandu rushed outdoors, Reuters reporters said. There were no immediate reports of damage to buildings. Shopkeepers closed their shops.

The quake’s epicenter 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.

“This is a really big one,” Prakash Shilpakar, the owner of a craft shop in Kathmandu, told the Reuters news agency.

Reports said people rushed from buildings in Kathmandu as the quake struck at 12:35 local time (07:50 GMT).

The epicentre of the latest earthquake was 83km (52 miles) east of Kathmandu, in a rural area close to the Chinese border.

It struck at a depth of 18.5km (11.5 miles), according to the US Geological Survey.