Quake toll in India goes up to 72

The toll in India following Saturday's earthquake has gone up to 72, even as the northern regions of Bihar and West Bengal along the border with Nepal were again jolted by another temblor on Monday causing panic among the people.

The India Meteorological Department (IMD) said the fresh tremor of magnitude 5.1 on the Richter scale was reported at 6.06 p.m.

With this, the number of aftershocks climbed to 56 in Nepal and the border areas of India and China.

Home Secretary L.C. Goyal, addressing the media in New Delhi at a joint press conference with Defence Secretary R.K. Mathur and Foreign Secretary S. Jaishankar, said the number of casualties in India due to Saturday's earthquake in Nepal had gone up to 72.

According to information released by the government, 57 deaths were reported from Bihar, 12 from Uttar Pradesh, two from West Bengal and one from Rajasthan.

Bihar also accounted for the largest number of people injured at 175. At least 35 people were injured in West Bengal, 70 in Uttar Pradesh, nine in Sikkim and seven in Rajasthan.

Goyal said he was in touch with chief secretaries of the affected states and Home Minister Rajnath Singh was in touch with the chief ministers.

Saturday's earthquake, measuring 7.9 on the Richter scale, and its aftershocks have left over 3,800 people dead and more than 6,500 injured in Nepal.

The fresh tremor on Monday damaged property in various places in Bihar, but there was no report of any casualty, an official said.