Nepal hit with SECOND large earthquake - panic spreads rapidly

New earthquake strikes less than three weeks after first.

Nepal was hit with a second powerful earthquake, less than three weeks after the massive one that devastated many and left more than 8,000 people dead.

LOS ANGELES, CA (Catholic Online) - Nepal's second earthquake is assigned with a preliminary magnitude of 7.3, with an epicenter about 50-miles east of Kathmandu, according to The United States Geological Survey. The earthquake on April 25 had a 7.8-magnitude.

The death toll for the newest earthquake has reached 42, with 1,117 injuries. These numbers are expected to climb as rubble is shifted and the injured emerge.

"All the people inside the building started crying and ran outside in the open space," explained Madhu Prasad Regmi, secretary of the Nepal Election Commission in Kathmandu, describing his surroundings when the earthquake began. "The fear on people's faces is very visible. There are regular aftershocks. So the fear is very visible."

"The mountains before my eyes started tumbling down in massive landslides," explained Prakash Banjara describing the quake he was caught in with 15 students delivering rice and other food to villages in Sindhupalchowk. "There are continuous landslides in this area. [The roads are] completely blocked by landslides, and there is no way we can get out if authorities do not come to our rescue soon."

"We are clinging together on the road, hoping the clouds will go away," Banjara continued. "I saw buildings crumble as we made our way here. Maybe there are people trapped in them. We have no way of knowing yet."

The Nepali people had not recovered after the April 25 quake when the second one hit on May 12. Buildings were still considered "precarious" and many had just barely reentered their homes. Aid workers were caught in the newest quake while distributing food.

"It was very frightening again, but we will keep giving out food," Dhruba Prasad Ghimire, an aid worker, said in a brief telephone interview with The New York Times. "We are O.K., but there were landslides and more of the aftershocks - you could see the ground falling down on the hills."

Search and rescue crews continue to dig through the rubble looking for bodies and survivors.

"I can still see massive clouds of mud and dust around, as massive landslides continue to happen," Bharat Shrestha, who was participating in rescue operations in a town about seven miles west of Chautara, said by telephone to The New York Times. "Concrete houses in Chautara have crumbled, and the main road leading to Chautara is completely blocked with debris"

Jasmine Avgerakis, an emergency response manager for Mercy Corps, described the locals as heading for the open fields, loaded up with blankets, fearing aftershocks.

"People will be frightened. We don't know if there will be more of these earthquakes," stated Ghimire.

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