Kathmandu hit by 5.5-magnitude earthquake

KATHMANDU, Nepal, Nov. 27 (UPI) -- Nepal was struck by an earthquake early Monday east of its capital, Kathmandu, which experts say is the 475th aftershock from a major earthquake that rocked the country in 2015.

Residents of Kathmandu and villages to its east were jarred awake around 5 a.m. when a 5.5-magnitude earthquake hit and was felt for hundreds of miles around.

The epicenter of the earthquake was on the border of Ramechhap and Solukhumbu districts, roughly 82 miles from Kathmandu.

People in their houses ran outside after the earthquake in the capital city, however there were no reports of injuries, damage to buildings or disruptions to power or telephone services.

The earthquake is thought to have affected remote mountainous villages around Mount Everest, which local media said they would not have information on until later in the morning when people woke up and took stock of the aftermath.

Nepal was slammed by a 7.8-magnitude earthquake in April 2015, and a 7.3-magnitude aftershock weeks later, which resulted in the deaths of 9,000 people and injured 22,000 more.

The country continues to feel aftershocks experts link to the big one in 2015, including one on October 17 in Nuwakot, northwest of Kathmandu, that measured 4.0 on the Richter scale.