Magnitude 4.4 with epicentre in capital hits again

The United States Geological Survey (USGS) on Wednesday said that though probability of future aftershocks in Nepal was lower than its forecast for previous week, stronger tremors for the week could not be ruled out.

“Within the week of May 20 to May 26, the USGS estimates that the chance of at least one magnitude of 5 to 6 is about 40% and up to three such events are likely to occur,” the U.S. body said in its latest weekly advisory for Nepal. Chances of aftershocks of magnitude 6 to 7 or higher were much less.

>Read: Why the May 12 quake is called an aftershock

Aftershocks are still occurring, though their frequency has lessened to a great deal. A jolt of magnitude 4.4 at 2.47 p.m. local time on Wednesday occurred. It felt stronger as the epicentre was Kathmandu, Lalitur and Makwanpur, according to Home Ministry’s Nepal Emergency Operation Centre. was Earlier in the day, an aftershock of magnitude 4.2 occurred at 11.10 a.m.

The earthquake on April and several strong aftershocks since then, the most notable of them occurring on May 12, have killed over 8,600 people and injured over 21,000 in central-eastern parts of Nepal.

A visiting geologist, Dr Roger Bilham of University of Colorado in Boulder, U.S., said that since the recent earthquake in Nepal did not rupture, chances of stringer aftershocks could not be ruled out. “The recent earthquake in Nepal was strange; the rupture should have occurred and released energy, but it didn’t,” Dr. Bilham said at a talk program in the capital.

Nepal could be rebuilt in 4-5 years: Modi’s envoy

While reiterating India’s support to Nepal on post-earthquake reconstruction and rehabilitation as per the latter’s need, a visiting Indian official on Wednesday said they would share their Gujarat experience, PTI and Rastriya Samachar Samiti reported.

“What Nepal most urgently needs is providing transitional shelters to hundreds of thousands of people made homeless by to the disaster and India wants to help towards that direction,” Indian Prime Minister Narendra’s Modi’s Additional Principal Secretary P K Mishra told media persons at the Kathmandu international airport before leaving for New Delhi.

The interim shelters should be constructed before the monsoon season, he said.

Mr. Mishra, who had a meeting with Prime Minister Sushil Koirala and other top leaders and officials on Tuesday, said he shared India’s experience of the earthquake of Gujarat in 2001, where thousands of people were killed.

Mr. Mishra was the chief executive officer of the Reconstruction Authority of Gujarat during Mod’s tenure in the state as chief minister. “We had rebuilt Gujarat in 4-5 years and same could happen in Nepal.