Mangan, Sikkim, September 1: An earthquake of magnitude 3.9 on the Richter scale struck Sikkim’s Mangan district in the early hours of Tuesday, according to the National Centre for Seismology (NCS).
The earthquake occurred at 1:48:04 am at a depth of 7 kilometres, the NCS said in a post on X. The epicentre was located at latitude 27.638°N and longitude 88.766°E in Mangan district.
The tremor was recorded as Nepal continued to deal with flash floods and rising water levels in several districts.
According to Nepal’s National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority (NDRRMA), the death toll from the floods had reached 903 as of Monday, while 4,247 people remained missing. A total of 10,451 people had been rescued.
Chitwan reported the highest number of deaths at 272, followed by Nawalparasi East with 207, Nawalparasi West with 151, Nuwakot with 95, Gorkha with 62, Dhading with 55, Tanahun with 37 and Rasuwa with 24.
The missing included 25 Nepal Police personnel, 45 Nepal Army personnel, 13 Armed Police Force personnel, 15 Customs Office personnel and three Immigration Office personnel.
District Emergency Operations Centre data showed 865 people missing in Rasuwa and 1,548 in Nuwakot. Another 933 people were reported missing from hydropower projects, while 65 were missing in Makwanpur.
The number of missing foreign nationals stood at 592. Rescue operations continued in the affected areas, with the Nepal Army conducting aerial rescues of 252 foreign nationals and 3,344 Nepali citizens.
Nepal had remained under flash flood alert on August 29, with authorities warning of rising water levels in rivers and streams in several districts and a high risk of flash floods in Nuwakot and Rasuwa.