US Earthquake Monitor Clarifies Nepal "Quake" Was 'Powerful Landslide'

The tremors that triggered the deadly flash floods in Nepal on Wednesday morning were caused by a landslide, not an earthquake, the United States Geological Survey clarified late Wednesday evening. 

At 8:37 am Nepal time, the shaking was initially reported by the USGS as a 4.4-magnitude earthquake along the Nepal-China border, north of Kathmandu. Around the same time, a landslide down a mountainside landed in the Lhende Khola river, a tributary of the Bhote Koshi that flows from China into Nepal. The flash floods that followed and killed over 150 people were thus caused by this exceptionally powerful landslide, later registered as equivalent of an earthquake measuring 5.2.

Relief and rescue operations are currently underway in Rasuwa and other areas following the floods.

The Nepal police have recovered 157 bodies and officers are working towards moving families from flood-risk areas. At least 403 tourists, 341 of them foreigners, were unaccounted for several hours after the disaster struck, according to the tourism ministry. The missing foreigners included 142 Indians, as well as others from Australia, Britain, Malaysia, the Netherlands, Portugal, South Africa, South Korea and the United States, the tourism board said.

Rescuers are racing against time to find survivors and bodies buried under the slush, with Prime Minister Balendra Shah pledging all government resources to relief work.

The flood surged through the Bhote Koshi River around 9 am (local time) as it crossed over from the Tibet side. Rasuwa and Dhading, bordering Tibet, and Nuwakot were among the affected districts.