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4 fresh tremors hit Nepal as toll crosses 8,000

Last updated on: May 10, 2015 21:16 IST

Four fresh tremors on Sunday jolted Nepal, triggering panic among the people already battered by the devastating earthquake and about 160 aftershocks as the death toll crossed 8,000.

Massive landslide and avalanche also forced suspension of rescue works in the popular trekking area of Langtang, where Nepal Army's rescue team has taken out 90 dead bodies, including nine foreigners, so far.

According to some media reports, as many as 120 bodies have been pulled out and rescuers who were searching for bodies have moved to safe places.

Lieutenant Colonel Anup Jung Thapa said the rescue works was disrupted due to huge piles of frequent avalanche in and around the area.

Meanwhile, three tremors jolted the Himalayan nation on Sunday, bringing the total number of aftershocks with 4 or more magnitude on the Richter scale to over 156.

A 4.2-magnitude tremor was recorded at 1.50 am with its epicentre at Sindhupalchowk district, 100 km east of Kathmandu, one of the worst-affected districts.

Another 4-magnitude tremor was recorded at 2.44 am with epicentre at Udaypur district.

The third tremor was of 4.4-magnitude which struck at 6.34 am with epicentre at Sindhupalchowk/Tibet, according to the National Seismological Centre, Kathmandu.

No damage due to the tremors was reported so far. However, they sent a fresh wave of fear and panic among the people who have been forced to stay in open spaces for the past two weeks.

Another 4.2-magnitude tremor struck at 3:20 pm with its epicentre at Kavre district, 75 km east of Kathmandu.

Meanwhile, the death toll from the April 25 temblor, the country's worst in over 80 years, reached 8,019 while the number of injured stands at 16,033, according to Nepal Police.

The UN has revised its flash appeal amount to USD 423 million (about Rs 2,000 crore) to carry out humanitarian relief in the country.

The global body has received just 10 per cent of the appeal amount even as the number of houses being destroyed has reached nearly 3 lakh, the UN said.

"As of May 8, Government said the earthquake destroyed 2,88,798 houses and damaged 2,54,112 houses," the UN's Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said, adding 1,60,786 houses were destroyed by May 1, nearly double the number of households wrecked in the deadly 1934 temblor.

On April 29, the UN had appealed for USD 415 million (about Rs 2,000 crore) in the wake of Nepal's worst earthquake in over 80 years which has been revised by eight million.

A man clears the debris of a collapsed Manang Monastery after the April 25 earthquake in Kathmandu. Photograph: Navesh Chitrakar/ Reuters

Three fresh tremors on Sunday jolted Nepal, triggering panic among the people already battered by the devastating earthquake and over 150 aftershocks as the death toll crossed 8,000.

Massive landslide and avalanche also forced suspension of rescue works in the popular trekking area of Langtang, where Nepal Army's rescue team has taken out 90 dead bodies, including nine foreigners, so far.

According to some media reports, as many as 120 bodies have been pulled out and rescuers who were searching for bodies have moved to safe places.

Lieutenant Colonel Anup Jung Thapa said the rescue works was disrupted due to huge piles of frequent avalanche in and around the area.

Meanwhile, three tremors jolted the Himalayan nation on Sunday, bringing the total number of aftershocks with four or more magnitude on the Richter scale to over 156.

A 4.2-magnitude tremor was recorded at 1.50 am with its epicentre at Sindhupalchowk district, 100 km east of Kathmandu, one of the worst-affected districts.

Another 4-magnitude tremor was recorded at 2.44 am with epicentre at Udaypur district.

The third tremor was of 4.4-magnitude which struck at 6.34 am with epicentre at Sindhupalchowk/Tibet, according to the National Seismological Centre, Kathmandu.

No damage due to the tremors was reported so far. However, they sent a fresh wave of fear and panic among the people who have been forced to stay in open spaces for the past two weeks.

Also, the death toll from the April 25 temblor, the country's worst in over 80 years, reached 8,019 while the number of injured stands at 16,033, according to Nepal Police.

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