An earthquake of magnitude 6.9 magnitude rocked eastern Nepal at around 6.25 pm, killing at least seven people, including three who were crushed by the collapse of the perimeter wall of the British Embassy.
The National Seismologic Centre said the epicentre was located at 19 km depth in eastern district Taplejung district Sikkim, 272 km east of Kathmandu. Two more people were killed in Dharan and two in Taplejung, and the casualty figures are expected to rise as reports come in from the remote northeastern corner of Nepal on the slopes of Kangchenjunga.
Four people were injured outside the British Embassy in Lainchour, and three of them were killed. Police identified them as Sajan Shrestha, 36, and his eight-year-old daughter Anisha of Ghumchaur-6, Gorkha and Bir Bahadur Majhi. The father and daughter were on a scooter when the wall along the Kapur Dhara Marg, collapsed. Police have reported more than 20 people were injured, most of them having their leg broken as they jumped off buildings in panic.
The cabinet has decided to provide immediate reliefs to the injured. The government has also appealed the private organisations to help in rescue and relief program. Prime Minister Baburam Bhattarai, left Kathmandu for New York as scheduled.
The National Seismologic Centre had recorded 17 minor quakes in 2011 alone. An earthquake of magnitude 5.0 was recorded on 29 August with its epicentre in Udaypur. Historical records show that a major earthquake occurs in Nepal every 70 years, the last big one was in 1934 in which 10,000 people were killed in Kathmandu Valley alone. The 1988 quake with epicentre in Dharan had killed over 700 people and injured almost 7,000.
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