Scores die in second Nepal earthquake

A second powerful earthquake in less than three weeks spread panic in Nepal yesterday, bringing down buildings weakened by the first disaster and killing at least 66 people, including 17 in neighbouring India and one in Tibet.

Most of the reported fatalities were in villages and towns east of Kathmandu, only just beginning to pick up the pieces from the April 25 quake that left more than 8,000 dead. The US military’s Pacific Command said a Marine Corps helicopter involved in disaster relief had gone missing, with six US Marines and two Nepalese soldiers aboard.

The new 7.3 magnitude quake was centred 76km east of the capital in a hilly area close to the border with Tibet, according to co-ordinates provided by the US Geological Survey, and unleashed landslides in Himalayan valleys near Mount Everest.