Two earthquakes rocked western Nepal on Tuesday, injuring 11 people, damaging homes and triggering a landslide that blocked a major highway, authorities said.

The landslide after the quakes of magnitude 6.3 and 5.3 in the district of Bajhang, bordering India, blocked the road to the southern plains, interior ministry official Rama Acharya told Reuters.

The quakes, centred in Talkot and Chainpur, struck at an interval of about 30 minutes.

Police official Bharat Bahadur Shah said 11 people — seven women and four men — were injured and were being treated in hospital. One woman was missing after being hit by another landslip triggered by the quake, he said.

One of the injured people was hit by a falling object, said Narayan Pandey, the top district official. Some homes in Chainpur, a town in the district, collapsed.

They tremors of the quakes felt were as far away as the Indian capital of New Delhi, where people rushed out of houses and office blocks. There were no immediate reports of damage.

The Hindustan Times reported that the earthquake lasted for more than 40 seconds and triggered panic among residents who rushed out of their houses.

The NDTV said tremors were also felt in Uttar Pradesh’s Lucknow, Hapur, and Amroha as well as parts of Uttarakhand.

In a statement, the Delhi police warned citizens against using elevators and told them to vacate buildings.

A day earlier, a Dutch research organisation had predicted a powerful earthquake in Pakistan. The Solar System Geometry Survey (SSGS) of the Netherlands, made a prediction of a powerful earthquake along the Chaman fault line, in Balochistan.

However, the claims of the Dutch institute have been refuted by scientists, seismologists and geologists

Opinion

Editorial

Dutch courage
Updated 02 Jun, 2024

Dutch courage

ECP has been supported wholeheartedly in implementing twisted interpretations of democratic process by some willing collaborators in the legislature.
New World cricket
02 Jun, 2024

New World cricket

HAVING finished as semi-finalists and runners-up in the last two editions of the T20 World Cup in familiar ...
Dead on arrival?
02 Jun, 2024

Dead on arrival?

Whatever the motivations for Gaza peace plan, it is difficult to see the scheme succeeding.
Another approach
Updated 01 Jun, 2024

Another approach

Conflating the genuine threat it poses with the online actions of a few misguided individuals or miscreants seems to be taking the matter too far.
Torching girls’ schools
01 Jun, 2024

Torching girls’ schools

PAKISTAN has, in the past few weeks, witnessed ill-omened reminders of a demoralising aspect of militancy: the war ...
Convict Trump
01 Jun, 2024

Convict Trump

AFTER a five-week trial saga, a New York jury on Thursday found former US president Donald Trump guilty of ...