Kathmandu - A new earthquake and powerful aftershocks killed dozens of people and brought fresh terror to a traumatised Nepal on Tuesday as buildings already damaged in a monster quake last month came tumbling down.
Only weeks after the country's deadliest quake in more than 80 years, terrified residents once again fled onto the streets while lawmakers had to scurry from parliament as the earth began shaking beneath their feet.
Officials in Nepal said at least 36 people were killed while 17 people also died across the border in northern India, most in the state of Bihar.
The 7.3-magnitude quake struck at 12:35 pm, some 76 kilometres (47 miles) east of Kathmandu, the US Geological Survey said, after a 7.8-magnitude quake on April 25 killed more than 8,000 people.
Tuesday's quake was felt as far away as New Delhi, and officials said it caused buildings to collapse in Tibet in neighbouring China, killing at least one person there.
A second tremor of 6.3-magnitude struck Nepal around half an hour later, followed by yet more aftershocks, according to the USGS.
Nepalese television showed buildings including parliament swaying as the earth moved underneath, while footage also emerged of fresh landslides in rural areas.
"At an hour of a natural disaster like this, we have to face it with courage and patience," Nepal's Prime Minister Sushil Koirala said after an emergency meeting of his cabinet.
The Nepalese government has acknowledged that it was overwhelmed by the scale of the April 25 disaster which destroyed nearly 300,000 homes and left many more too dangerous to live in any more.
Laxmi Prasad Dhakal, a spokesman for Nepal's home ministry, said 36 people were killed and 1,129 were injured.
AFP
