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Fresh tremor rocks quake-hit Indian foothills

LUCKNOW, (India): A fresh tremor rocked India's Himalayan foothills early on Wednesday, two days after a powerful earthquake and aftershocks killed at least 100 people and injured more than 300, officials said.

The latest earthquake, which hit the Garhwal region at 2:32 a.m. (2102 GMT), measured 5.2 on the open-ended Richter scale.

Sridhar Pathak, superintendent of police in Chamoli town, told Reuters by phone that there were no reports of casualties as yet. Chamoli was hit hard by Monday's earthquake, which measured 6.8 on the Richter scale.

Pathak said he had received information of one house collapsing in the fresh tremors, but details from far-flung areas would take time.

Monday's earthquake, which jolted many parts of northern India, western Nepal and southern China, brought houses tumbling down on thousands of people as they slept in Garhwal district.

Rescue operations were continuing in remote areas, where the extent of damage remained unclear.

"I expect my teams sent three days back to Niti valley to send information by evening because there is no radio or telecommunication facility available in that area and the area has a population of a couple of thousand," Pathak said.

"I do not rule out damage to life and property on account of this (Wednesday's) earthquake because of the hilly terrain. The information flow is very slow and disrupted on account of the calamity," said Rudraprayag District Magistrate Dharam Singh.

"My teams are on the job and perhaps in half-an-hour or so, we should be able to get the details of fresh damage, if any," said P.K. Sarangi, district magistrate of Pauri.

Gautam Kaul, the director general of the Indo-Tibetan Police Force said on Tuesday the death toll and number of injured was unlikely to increase dramatically.

Paramilitary forces had erected tents in Chamoli to provide shelter and medical help and distribution of food and medicines had begun.

Women and children stood in long queues with buckets on Tuesday waiting for water tankers to arrive in Chamoli. Shops opened and local buses honked in the streets as life returned to the disaster area._Reuters