42 dead, 1,117 injured in 7.3 earthquake in Nepal
At least 36 dead, 981 injured in new tremors; earthquake epicenter near Everest base camp; Israeli aid team lands back in Israel Tuesday morning.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has called Israel's ambassador in Nepal, Yaron Meir, in the wake of a magnitude 7.3 earthquake which struck Nepal on Tuesday, originally confirmed by the the U.S. Geological Survey.
Forty-two deaths have been confirmed by an international agency along with 981 wounded and the tremors caused people to run out of buildings in the capital Kathmandu and shook structures in the Indian capital.
Netanyahu is reportedly receiving updates on the situation in the region. Israel's aid team which helped save lives after an earthquake in April that devestated Nepal, landed back in Israel Tuesday morning just hourse before the new earthquake.
The quake, which struck near the base camp of Mount Everest, was measured at a shallow depth of about 10 km. A 7.8-magnitude earthquake struck on April 25, killing at least 8,046 people and injuring more than 17,800.
IsraAID said in a press release that it currently has medical and psychosocial teams on the ground in Nepal. The organization said that they are distributing goods and will continue to coordinate with the Nepalese government, UN agencies, and NGOs/INGOs to respond to any and all new developments.
"This is a really big one," said Prakash Shilpakar, the owner of a handicrafts shop in Kathmandu who was trying to call his parents in the town of Bhaktapur, devastated in the April 25 quake.
The Nepalese police tweeted that the public should remain in open areas, clear the roads for emergency crews, and to refrain from making phone calls as the networks were busy.
Please stay in open field, help us make free road, do not make phone nw busy. SMS is suggested.
— Nepal Police (@NepalPoliceHQ) May 12, 2015
Aftershocks have been felt in north India and the capital of New Delhi following the quake which occurred about 68 kilometers west of Namche Bazaar next to the base of Mount Everest.
People in Kathmandu rushed outdoors after the initial tremors, Reuters reporters said. Shopkeepers closed their shops.
The quake's epicenter was close to Everest Base Camp, which was evacuated after an avalanche triggered by the April 25 quake killed 18 climbers. Mountaineers seeking to scale the world's tallest peak have called off this year's Everest season.
