7.4 Magnitude Earthquake Strikes Nepal
Nepal has been hit with another devastating earthquake. The USGS is reporting that a quake with a magnitude of 7.4 has struck 50 miles east of Kathmandu.
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
This earthquake comes just 17 days after a 7.8 magnitude earthquake struck Nepal. The amount of lives lost in that 7.8 earthquake was over 8,000 people while the injured amount was approximately 18,000 people.
The physical damage to Nepal from the first earthquake has not yet been cleaned up fully. With this 7.4 earthquake, the new damages along with the existing ones will create more problems and havoc for the people of Nepal.
We will not have any idea on the amount of lives lost with this new earthquake until the rescue efforts begin again. Sadly, the number could quite easily be in the thousands again.
The fault line that has caused these earthquakes is the convergence of the Indian and Eurasian tectonic plates.
In 2013, Vinod Kumar Gaur, a seismologist with the Centre for Mathematical Modelling and Computer Simulation stated that the potential for a large and devastating earthquake is high.
“Calculations show that there is sufficient accumulated energy [in the MFT], now to produce an 8 magnitude earthquake. I cannot say when. It may not happen tomorrow, but it could possibly happen sometime this century, or wait longer to produce a much larger one.”
We have not seen the eight magnitude earthquake that Gaur said could happen. Sadly, we have seen two very large earthquakes that have been close to the magnitude of an eight. It could be argued that a 7.8 and a 7.4 earthquake in a three-week span could be more deadly and costly than a solo earthquake of 8.0.
A 6.3 magnitude earthquake aftershock happened during the writing of this story. This will not be the last strong aftershock that this area will feel.
A relief fund was set up for the 7.8 earthquake in Nepal from last month. The link to that relief fund can be found here. Again, this is a relief fund for the Nepal earthquake on April 25, 2015. This is not a new relief fund for the earthquake that just happened.
We can only hope that the loss of life and injuries will be less than what Nepal had to deal with on April 25, 2015
More information on this new earthquake in Nepal will be available as the story develops. Stay with Inquisitr throughout the day for the latest information.
UPDATE: The USGS has downgraded the earthquake from a 7.4 to a 7.3.
[Image via USGS]
