NEW DELHI: A major earthquake has hit Nepal near the Chinese border between the capital of Kathmandu and Mount Everest, with at least four confirmed dead less than three weeks after a massive quake struck the South Asian country.
An official with an International Organization for Migration said a number of buildings collapsed in the isolated town of Chautara after Nepal's earthquake, with at least four people were killed.
IOM spokesman Paul Dillon said a search and rescue team had already begun searching through the wreckage of the little town.
Chautara has become a hub for humanitarian aid in the wake of the April 25 quake, with dozens of aid workers now based there to send help deeper into the countryside.
The US Geological Survey said the quake hit with a magnitude of 7.3 around 12.35 pm today, 68 kilometres west of the town of Namche Bazar near the Everest base camp. Tuesday's quake was deeper, however, coming from a depth of 18.5 kilometers (11.5 miles) versus the April 25th quake that hit 15 kilometers (9.3 miles). More shallow earthquakes tend to cause more damage at the surface.
The tremors in Kathmandu lasted close to a minute according to an AFP correspondent in the city, with the ground swaying. Sirens could be heard soon afterwards.
In India, the Home Ministry said there were not one but two earthquakes -- one in Nepal and the other in Afghanistan (6.9 on the Richter scale).
This comes after an earthquake on April 25 killed more than 8,150 people and injured more than 17,860 as it flattened mountain villages and destroyed buildings.
The quake's epicentre was close to the Everest Base Camp, which was evacuated after an avalanche triggered by the April 25 earthquake killed 18 climbers. Mountaineers seeking to scale the world's tallest peak have called off this year's Everest season.
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