18 killed as powerful earthquake jolts northeast India, Nepal

Nepalese rescue volunteers and security personnel stand on the rubble of a British Embassy wall collapse during an earthquake in Kathmandu on September 18, 2011. Five people have been confirmed dead after strong tremors were felt in Nepal after an earthquake of 6.8-magnitude hit the mountainous northeast Indian state of Sikkim.

GANGTOK: A powerful earthquake with a 6.8 magnitude hit Sikkim and several areas in the eastern part of the country and neighbouringNepal, leaving 18 dead and over 100 injured besides causing extensive damage to buildings and roads.
The epicentre of the quake - the biggest in two decades - was located at Mangan and Sakyong areas, over 50 km from Gangtok on the Sikkim-Nepal border.
Seven persons were killed in Sikkim -- two at Singtham in east district, two in Rishi in west district and one at Mangan in north district, chief secretary Karma Gyatso said.
Gyatso said that two others had also died in other places, but could not give details.
In neighbouring West Bengal four deaths were reported -- three in Darjeeling district and one in Jalpaiguri district, chief secretary Samar Ghosh said.
Of the deaths in Darjeeling district, one each occurred in Kalimpong, Kurseong and Siliguri sub-divisions, Ghosh said.
In Bihar, two persons were killed in Nalanda and Darbhanga districts, official sources said.
A five-year-old girl and a youth were the two victims, they said.
At least five people were killed in Nepal, three of them outside the British embassy in Kathmandu, when a high brick-wall collapsed.
Tremors were also felt in Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura, Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Chandigarh and Delhi.Four teams of National Disaster Response Force have been rushed to Sikkim and five more teams were being sent from Kolkata, cabinet secretary Ajit Kumar Seth told reporters after a meeting of top officials in Delhi convened on the direction of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
========================================================
Quake hits army bunkers, soldiers injured

NEW DELHI: The earthquake Sunday damaged some Indian Army bunkers in eastern Sikkim near Nathu-La pass along the India-China border and left many soldiers injured, said sources.
Helicopters were deployed to evacuate the soldiers, said sources adding that on-ground army installations were intact. The required soldier strength in the sensitive area was in place, they said.
The 6.8-magnitude quake of around two minutes followed by after-shocks rocked the region and caused the damage to the bunkers. According to sources, rescue work was getting affected because of land slides in the area as a result of torrential rains in the past two days.
Army contingents in small teams have been deployed in rescue missions across Sikkim to provide humanitarian assistance. Army units comprising medical teams, engineer detachments as also personnel for relief and rescue operation have been pressed into service, said sources.

ITBP rescues 15 foreigners, 150 locals in quake-hit N Sikkim
GANGTOK: The Indo-Tibetan Border Police(ITBP) tonight rescued 15 foreign tourists and 150 villagers from various parts of north Sikkim which was badly affected in this evening's earthquake.
The rescued have been moved to the ITBP battalion's headquarter in Mangan, about 20 km from Gangtok, official sources said. Around 400 ITBP personnel and four medical teams at Pegong are carrying search and rescue operations, while 300 BSF personnel each from Siliguri and Guwahati along with doctors and para-medical staff have been rushed to affected areas. Official sources said the search and rescue operations are getting hampered because there is no electricity in the area. The force's also lost two of its buildings. "Two buildings have collapsed though there has been no casualty. The officers mess too has been hit. The road outside the battalion headquarters has cracked. We have launched search and rescue operations," they said.