Biggest quake in Nepal since 1934 claims over 800 lives

"Depending on the magnitude, this earthquake is classified as 'Great earthquake'. For such a magnitude, the aftershocks will continue to occur for the next 10-15 days (in the same region), though it will be small and intensity will go on decreasing," CSIR-National Geophysical Research Institute (NGRI) chief scientist Chadha told PTI.

He said that NGRI observatories across the country recorded the earthquake that struck at around 11.41 am with the epicentre of 80 km north-west of Kathmandu, at a depth of about 15 km.

"There were 15 aftershocks in the range of 5 to 6.6 on the Richter scale, till 4.30 pm in the region," he said.

He further noted that Saturday's earthquake is the biggest one in Nepal and surrounding regions after the earthquake of 8.4 magnitude which occurred along the Nepal-Bihar border in 1934.

At least 26 people were killed and over 100 injured in India following the earthquake Saturday with Nepal reporting a massive 700 deaths.

A release from NGRI here said this earthquake is a "typical Himalayan earthquake" caused due to collision of the Indian plate with the Eurasian plate "with an overall convergence rate of about 5 cm per year".

"Earthquakes in this (Himalayan) region are quite expected and the largest earthquake of magnitude 8.4 occurred in 1934 on the Bihar-Nepal border which was extremely destructive," it said.

The other notable earthquakes in Himalayas were the 1897 Shillong and the 1950 Indo-China earthquake, each of the magnitude of 8.7.

"NGRI is currently operating a network of seismograph stations along the Himalayan belt and our scientists are going to study the characteristics of this earthquake and its aftershocks using seismic data and field mapping in the days to come with an aim of assessing the seismic hazard level," Ch Mohan Rao, Director, Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB) and Additional-Charge Director, NGRI said.

"The knowledge obtained in such analysis will be useful in understanding the earthquake dynamics and identify earthquake prone areas, so that we can plan protection measures," he said.