Earthquake of magnitude 4.9 strikes Nepal, no casualty reported

An earthquake of magnitude 4.9 hit Nepal in early morning hours on Wednesday. No casualty or any property damage has been reported so far. According to the Indian Metrological Department, the earthquake occurred on 06:14:33 am at the Latitude 27.7 North and Longitude 85.1 E, at the depth of 10 Km. However, the National Emergency Operation Centre, Nepal, two more earthquakes were reported in brief span of 20 minutes, which were of magnitudes of 5.2 and 4.3. The epicentre of these earthquake was in Naubise in Dhading District. So far, three earthquakes have occurred in Nepal in last one hour at 6:14, 6:29 and 6:40 am respectively.

The early morning hours have seen tremors in this Himalyan region. A strong 6.1-magnitude earthquake struck Arunachal Pradesh early Wednesday, the US Geological Survey said. The epicentre of the shallow quake was about 40 kilometres (25 miles) southeast of Along, and 180 kilometres southwest of the state capital Itanagar. It struck at 1.45 am. Arunachal Pradesh is least densely populated state, but is still home to more than 1.2 million people, according to the state government's website. China's official state news agency Xinhua said the quake was felt in Tibet also.

Earlier on April 16, a magnitude 4.5 earthquake jolted Gorkha district in Nepal, causing panic among the residents. The quake was felt in Gorkha district and surrounding areas around 12:35 p.m, according to the National Seismological Center (NSC). However, there was no report of any damage. It was the third quake that hit Nepal in the past five days. On April 13, a 4.6-magnitude earthquake hit Rasuwa district while another 4.8-magnitude quake jolted far-west Nepal's Bajhang district on April 14. A powerful earthquake struck Gorkha district in April 2015, killing 9,000 people.

The 7.8 magnitude earthquake that rocked Nepal in April 2015 is also known as the Gorkha earthquake. About 9,000 people lost their lives while nearly 22,000 were injured in the tremor. Till 2017, 487 aftershocks of magnitude 4 or more were experienced since Nepal was hit by a 7.8 magnitude earthquake in April 2015.

At that time, to assist earthquake-ravaged Nepal in its reconstruction effort, India had pledged to build 50,000 houses in its two worst hit districts. India signed an agreement with United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS) to build 50,000 homes for quake victims in Gorkha, the epicentre of 2015 earthquake, and the Nuwakot district.

Under the project, 26,912 home owners were benefited in Gorkha and 23,088 homeowners in Nuwakot, according to Indian Embassy sources.

Socio-technical teams from UNDP and UNOPS will assist home owners to reconstruct their houses as per the Government of Nepal’s earthquake resistant norms.

Under the agreement, India gave $8.41 million to the UNOPS and $7.41 Million to the UNDP for the reconstruction of the 50,000 homes.

(With agency inputs)