Earthquake just occurred in Kathmandu.  It's Sunday 6:30pm Nepal Time.

Nagariknews is reporting :  

काठमाडौंमा ठूलो भुकम्प

काठमाडौंमा भुकम्पको ठूलो धक्का अनुभव गरिएको छ। भुकम्पको केन्द्रविन्दू र क्षति बारे विस्तृत विवरणका लागि केही समय पर्खनोस्।

Hopefully it was not as big as they are reporting !! 

it was big... its was 6.8, center was on sikkim area
http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&biw=1280&bih=619&q=27.730%C2%B0N,+88.082%C2%B0E&gs_sm=s&gs_upl=1025l1025l0l2366l1l1l0l0l0l0l275l275l2-1l1l0&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.&um=1&ie=UTF-8&sa=N&tab=wl

Aaaile samma kei chheti bhako caina re

6.8 Mw - SIKKIM, INDIA

Preliminary Earthquake Report

Magnitude	6.8 Mw
Date-Time	18 Sep 2011 12:40:48 UTC 18 Sep 2011 18:10:48 near epicenter 18 Sep 2011 05:40:48 standard time in your timezone
Location	27.730N 88.082E
Depth	20 km
Distances	69 km (43 miles) NW (310 degrees) of Gangtok, Sikkim, India 120 km (74 miles) NNW (343 degrees) of Shiliguri, West Bengal, India 133 km (83 miles) E (94 degrees) of Namche Bazar, Nepal 166 km (103 miles) W (278 degrees) of THIMPHU, Bhutan
Location Uncertainty	Horizontal: 14.4 km; Vertical 7.4 km
Parameters	Nph = 258; Dmin = 369.6 km; Rmss = 1.17 seconds; Gp = 28° M-type = Mw; Version = 9
Event ID	US c0005wg6

तारेमाम शरण,
सप्पै सुरक्षित होस् ।

अहिले सम्मको जानकारी अनुसार सन्खुवासभा मा ४ वटा कार्यालय भत्केको छ । लाजिम्पाटमा दुई बटुवा पर्खाल भात्किएकोमा परेको समाचार छ ।

सिक्किम केन्द्रबिंदू रहेको र संखुवासभाको प्रारम्भिक समाचारले पूर्बी नेपालको पहाडी भूभाग मा खती भएकाइ हुनु पर्छ । सप्पै मिलेर प्रार्थना गरौं । धनजन क्षति नहोस् ।

 पर्साको रानीगन्ज दरबार भत्कियो- ATV #Sept18quake -Anantak RT @salokya मेरो घर छेउ को पुरानो घर त गर्लाम्गुर्लुमै भयो, ठमेल नजिक को पुरानो घर, मान्छे लै केहि भयो थाहा छैन #Sept18quake

Just called home..earthquake was bigger than 2045 but it did not last long that is why most houses are intact ..it could be just the first one though...there could be more to come. I hope we do not get them anymore.

Just Got news , 4 conform dead on British Embasssy wall collaspe

 Initial reports of damages are coming. 3 have been confirmed dead due to a collapse of boundary around British embassy in Lainchour. Lots of damages to houses reported. Lets hope and pray its not too bad. 

 : Sabb bhanda ghata Nakhipot ma chata pate wala lai lagyo re, khada khadai sabai bhage re paisa natiri :P 

 Whats the deal with sikkim, is it mostly nepalese or [Disallowed String for - castist reference]s?

प्रश्ने साथी,

प्रश्न त गर्यौ तर तिम्रो प्रश्नको पारा देखेर दिक्क लाग्यो, साझाले तिमीले लेखेको कुन शब्दलाई फिल्टर गर्‍यो भन्ने कुरा म सहजै अनुमान लगाउन सक्छु । एउटा कुरा के बुझिराख भने प्राकृतिक प्रकोपले को नेपाली को न नेपाली भनेर छुट्याउदैन । कहाँदेखि कहाँसम्म नेपाल र कहाँदेखि कहाँसम्म भारत भन्ने पनि छुट्याउदैन । प्रकृतिले मान्छेले कोरेको भूगोलको सिमानालाई स्वीकार गर्दैन । फरक केले पार्छ भने कुन देशका मान्छेहरु यस्तो प्राकृतिक प्रकोपको सामाना गर्न बढी तयार भएर बसेका छन् भन्ने । नेपालमा आएको जस्तो भूकम्प जापानमा गयो भने तिनीहरुलाई केही पनि फरक पर्दैन । यसरी पनि यो समय नेपाली र ननेपाली भनेर हल्ला गरेर बस्ने होइन । कहाँ कति क्षति भयो र कहाँ कहाँ उद्दार गर्न आवश्यक छ भनेर चासो लिने हो र सकेको सहयोग पठाउने हो । हैन तिमीलाई सिक्किमको नाम किन लेखिस् भन्ने जान्न जरुरी भएको भए चाँही एउटा कुरा भन्छु सुन । हरेक भूकम्पको एउटा उद्गम बिन्दु हुन्छ जसलाई हामी केन्द्रबिन्दु भन्छौ । अहिले नेपालमा गएको भूकम्पको केन्द्रबिन्दु सिक्किम हो । तलको लिन्कमा हेर्यौ भने यो भूकम्पको केन्द्रबिन्दु कहाँ रहेछ भन्ने थाहा पाउँछौ ।

Thats the deal with Sikkim.

http://maps.google.com/maps?q=27.446N+88.390E&rls=com.microsoft:en-us:IE-SearchBox&oe=UTF-8&rlz=1I7GGIH_en&um=1&ie=UTF-8&ei=XBh2TsqKHenHsQKnu-2LBQ&sa=X&oi=mode_link&ct=mode&cd=3&ved=0CAkQ_AUoAg

 

नाश दाइलाई नजिस्कावो भनेर कती चोटि भने, गयो नि होइन गान्तोक्मा भुकम्प !
sidster दाजु : यु ह्यव अ सेफ ट्रिप म्यान !

अनी इन अल सिरिएसनेस, मे अल द डिसिज्द सोल रेस्ट इन पिस !

 Jiminy Christmas, just asked a straightforward question. Didn't expect a sermon. I asked whether Sikkim was mostly Nepali or 'Tibetan' ethnicity.

Sikkim's population is mostly of Nepali origin, I would say more than 75%.  

But having said that, what exactly is "Nepali Origin"?  My first statement implies that Nepalis immigrated to Sikkim, which in essence is not true.  Who is to say that Rais, Tamangs, Gurungs, Limbus, [Disallowed String for - castist reference]s, [Disallowed String for - castist reference]s, [Disallowed String for - castist reference]s have not been living in Sikkim as long as traditionally considered native Lepchas?  

That aside, thank God the fatalities and damages have been rather minimal considering the magnitude of the quake, not that it is any solace to the families who lost their loved ones.  May their soul rest in peace and may their loved ones  find strength in this time of grief.

my deepest sympathy...

http://www.businessweek.com/ap/financialnews/D9PS92CO0.htm

Death toll at 81 for quake in India, Nepal, China

By ALTAF QADRI

GANGTOK, India

Thousands of terrified survivors of a Himalayan earthquake that killed 81 people and rattled parts of India, Nepal and China crowded Tuesday into shelters and relatives' homes or stayed out in the open for fear of aftershocks.

Soldiers used dynamite and earthmovers to clear landslides on highways through the steep valleys linking the worst-hit northeastern Indian state of Sikkim to the rest of India. They managed to clear a path to Mangan, closest to the epicenter of Sunday's 6.9-magnitude quake, but many other communities remained cut off and authorities fear the death toll could rise once rescuers reach them.

Indian army helicopters ferried rescuers and dropped food and supplies to still-inaccessible villages in Sikkim, a sparsely populated and almost entirely mountainous region that was an independent protectorate before becoming an Indian state in 1975.

Residents of the state, which borders Nepal, Bangladesh, Bhutan and the Chinese region of Tibet, have been spooked by at least five aftershocks since Sunday, with the strongest a magnitude 5.3.

Dawa Lendup Lepcha, 25, a university student in Gangtok, the capital of Sikkim, said that even though the room he rents was not badly damaged, he was too nervous to stay there alone and moved in with a cousin.

"Even now we feel scared. If a car makes a loud sound or there is some other sudden noise I feel very scared," he said.

Thousands of others moved out of their homes in Gangtok and the neighboring villages and took shelter in the open grounds of a university building and a soccer stadium. Many were sleeping outside, huddling under blankets to ward off the cold. Nighttime temperatures have been about 17 degrees Celsius (62 fahrenheit).

"The damage to houses is substantial. Many thousands of houses have collapsed while others have suffered structural damage," said Amit Patro, editor of the English language Sikkim Express newspaper.

Fearing his own home wasn't safe, Patro moved with his mother, wife and two children to a friend's house.

"I don't know how long we will camp with friends. For a few more days at least, till I can convince my family that it's safe to move back," he said.

The quake killed at least 50 people in Sikkim and caused extensive damage to homes and buildings, said the state's top official, Karma Gyatso.

Another 12 people were killed in West Bengal and six others in Bihar, India's Home Secretary R. K. Singh told reporters. The earthquake also killed six people in Nepal and seven in Tibet.

Singh said rescue efforts were being hampered by heavy rain and landslides which had cut off large swaths of Sikkim.

Lepcha said he had only managed to speak with his family in northern Sikkim twice since Sunday's earthquake and while his relatives were safe, he said there were few details because the phone connections were very erratic.

The region has been hit by major earthquakes in the past, including in 1950 and 1897.

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Associated Press writer Wasbir Hussain in Gauhati contributed to this report.