Four days after Nepal was shaken by its second deadly significant earthquake in less than three weeks, nerves were rattled there by another quake Saturday afternoon. The U.S. Geological Survey indicated the magnitude-5.7 tremor was strong enough to inflict significant damage on poorly constructed buildings. It was felt in northern India. Neither injuries nor deaths have been reported, possibly because so many structures were already toppled by the April 25 magnitude-7.8 earthquake that killed more than 8,000 people and injured more than 19,000. The region was hit Tuesday by a quake that killed over 125 people and injured over 2,500.
“An aftershock of 5.7-intensity after three days of high-intensity earthquakes on May 12 measuring 7.3 on the Richter scale is rare in weather science,” A.K. Sen, a state meteorologist in Bihar, India, south of Nepal, told the Financial Express. Sen said it’s rare for aftershocks of major quakes to top 4.0 in magnitude.
The quake was felt in the northern Indian states of Bihar and Uttar Pradesh at about 5 p.m. local time.
Meanwhile, the bodies of eight people aboard a U.S. military helicopter that crashed during a relief mission were recovered. The wreckage of the aircraft was found Friday after it went down in a dense patch of forest 35 miles east of Kathmandu Wednesday.
Six U.S. Marines and two Nepali solders were on board delivering aid to locals in the wake of the earthquake Tuesday. The Pentagon has not yet determined the cause of the crash, but it said radio chatter indicated there was a fuel problem, according to CNN. About 300 U.S. soldiers are working in relief efforts in the region.
