A 5.2 magnitude earthquake in Nepal damages dozens of homes and causes a landslide

KATHMANDU, Nepal (AP) — A 5.2 magnitude earthquake and some aftershocks damaged nearly two dozen houses in the hilly Dhading district near Nepal’s capital Sunday, an official said.

The shaking also caused a landslide in the region, Hum Nath Parajuli, a district government administrator, said. Details were not immediately available.

The area is nearly 60 kilometers (40 miles) west of Kathmandu, and the earthquake was felt in the Nepalese capital.

Nepal’s National Earthquake Monitoring and Research Center gave a preliminary magnitude of 6.1. The U.S. Geological Survey provided measurements of a 5.2 magnitude with a depth of 24.7 kilometers (15.4 miles) and an epicenter near Bharatpur.

Three tremors of 4.3, 4.1 and 3.8 magnitude also hit the region later Sunday, according to India’s Center for Seismology.

The Press Trust of India news agency said the tremors were also felt in Bagmati and Gandaki provinces and caused panic among people. One woman suffered injuries in the Gorkha district, which adjoins Dhading, when she jumped from a two-story building, Parajuli said.

Earthquakes are common in mountainous Nepal. A 7.8 magnitude earthquake in 2015 killed some 9,000 people and damaged about 1 million structures.