A 5.8-magnitute earthquake struck Nepal's western Lamjung district on Wednesday, injuring at least six persons and damaging dozens of houses, officials said. The epicentre of the quake, which occurred at 5:42 AM (05:27 IST), was located at Marshyangdi Rural Municipality of the district, 200 km west of Kathmandu.

The 5.8-magnitude quake damaged around two dozen houses and left six people injured, The Kathmandu Post reported. According to the National Earthquake Monitoring and Research Centre, two tremors of magnitudes 4.0 and 5.3 were also recorded in the district later at 8:16 AM and 8:26 AM.

The report said that around 20 small tremors have been felt until 10 AM since the first quake hit the district. Altogether, four earthquakes from mild to moderate hit Lamjung. They were known as the aftershocks of the devastating 2015 earthquake that hit Gorkha district. Lumjung is 75 km west of Gorkha.

According to Inspector Jagdish Regmi of the District Police Office, six people have been injured in the quake. Three people were injured after a wall of a house gave way while the other three were injured while running away, he said. All the injured were rushed to a nearby hospital in Lamjung where their condition is reported to be normal.

The Himalayan Times reported that a woman was found half-buried as her house caved in. She was asleep when the quake struck. Locals rescued her and rushed her to a hospital. The report said that the people expressed anger over the police's apathy after the incident.

Most of the houses damaged in the incident were made of mud, stones and corrugated sheets, the police said. The jolt was also felt in neighbouring districts of Manang, Kaski and Gorkha.

The people have come out of their homes due to recurring aftershocks, the report said, adding that they are seen without masks, increasing the risk of virus transmission during the ongoing COVID-19 crisis.

In April 2015, a devastating earthquake of 7.8-magnitude rocked Nepal, killing nearly 9,000 people and wounding nearly 22,000 others. It also damaged over 800,000 houses and schools.

First Published:May 19, 2021 8:49 AM IST