Nepal: Earthquake of 5.5 magnitude strikes Kathmandu; no casualties reported

An earthquake with a magnitude of 5.5 on the Richter scale jolted parts of Nepal's capital Kathmandu on Sunday morning, as per the National Center for Seismology. The quake struck around 7:58 am (local time) at the 147 km East-Southeast of Kathmandu. In a tweet, the National Center for Seismology said, “Earthquake of Magnitude:5.5, Occurred on 31-07-2022, 07:58:10 IST, Lat: 27.14 & Long: 86.67”. Further, no casualties or accounts of damage have been reported so far.

Recent earthquake in Nepal

In June, the National Center for Seismology reported that a quake with a magnitude of 4.3 rattled areas of Kathmandu. It occurred around 161 kilometres west-northwest of Kathmandu. 

Furthermore, the national seismological center revealed that two more minor earthquakes with magnitudes below 5.0 struck Central Nepal on Thursday morning.  According to the center's measurements, an earthquake of a magnitude of 4.9 impacted the Kaski District of Nepal and nearby regions at roughly 3:56 AM (NST). As per media reports, the Dhampus of Machhapuchhre Rural Municipality-7 in the Kaski district served as the earthquake's epicentre. Districts in Baglung, Parbat, Myagdi, and Tanahun felt the quake's aftershocks. A few hours later, the National Earthquake Monitoring and Research Center also noted a little quake with a magnitude of 4.1, with its epicentre in the Gorkha District of Thumi at 7:22 AM (NST), as per media reports. 

It is pertinent to mention that these earthquakes occurred after a powerful 7.8-magnitude earthquake devastated the Himalayan nation in 2015, which left almost 9,000 people dead and more than 22,000 injured. It was the worst earthquake in a seismically active area in nearly 90 years. Hundreds of aftershocks occurred as a result of the earthquake, and roughly 17 days later, Nepal had another 7.3 magnitude earthquake. According to media reports, in the more than 14 hardest-hit areas, hundreds of thousands of people fell into poverty. 

(Image: ANI/ Shutterstock)