Public Radio East serves Eastern North Carolina by providing news, fine arts, and informational programming that challenges, stimulates, educates, and entertains an intellectually curious audience.

© 2026 Public Radio East

Public Radio East
800 College Court
New Bern, NC 28562

EIN 56-1802728
Public Radio For Eastern North Carolina 89.3 WTEB New Bern 88.5 WZNB New Bern 91.5 WBJD Atlantic Beach 90.3 WKNS Kinston 89.9 W210CF Greenville
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Nepal Update: Quake's Death Toll Rises; U.S. Chopper Still Missing

A woman in Kathmandu walks past rubble following several massive earthquakes in Nepal. Officials say at least 76 people died in Tuesday's magnitude-7.3 quake.
Jonas Gratzer
/
Getty Images
A woman in Kathmandu walks past rubble following several massive earthquakes in Nepal. Officials say at least 76 people died in Tuesday's magnitude-7.3 quake.

Emergency officials in Nepal say at least 76 people have died in Tuesday's earthquake, which hit as the small country is still coping with a prior quake that killed more than 8,000. A U.S. Marine helicopter that had been aiding relief efforts remains missing.

On April 25, a magnitude-7.8 temblor devastated swaths of Nepal. The most recent quake was measured at 7.3, followed by a 6.3 quake half an hour later. Aftershocks continued to strike Wednesday, including at least two that hit shortly after noon, each around magnitude-5.

A family sits inside a tent at Kathmandu's golf course Wednesday, a day after a strong earthquake hit the area.
Jonas Gratzer / Getty Images
/
Getty Images
A family sits inside a tent at Kathmandu's golf course Wednesday, a day after a strong earthquake hit the area.

The American UH-1Y Huey helicopter went missing Tuesday morning local time in a remote mountainous region near Charikot, Nepal, where it had been delivering humanitarian aid. Six Marines and two Nepali soldiers were aboard. Unconfirmed reports suggested the aircraft might have been having fuel problems.

The search for the helicopter has included at least nine flights by two Hueys from Marine Light Attack Helicopter Squadron 469 and two Ospreys from Marine Medium Tiltrotor Squadron 262, according to a release from the U.S. joint task force in Nepal.

From New Delhi, NPR's Julie McCarthy reports:

Copyright 2023 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

Bill Chappell is a writer and editor on the News Desk in the heart of NPR's newsroom in Washington, D.C.