The Sunday afternoon aftershocks prompted residents rushing for phones to make calls to friends and relatives in Nepal.

Chartered accountant Shiv Kumar, 30, left for Janakpur, 20km from the Bihar border to reach his parents soon after the earthquake.

"The magnitude with respect to Kathmandu was low but people are really afraid here. They are still in panic and have congregated at a safe place to avoid any untoward incident. The aftershocks are really horrifying. I am really glad that my family is safe. There is almost no colossal damage to life and properties expect a few of old buildings and temples," said Shiv.

For Sachin Verma, this year's summer vacation will always be a nightmare. Verma, a businessman from Patna, was in Kathmandu with his family for holiday. He said: "I saw people screaming, building collapsing, children crying and people trying hard to be alive. Those three minutes turned this beautiful and peaceful land into a disaster. I have never encountered earthquake at such an intensity."

Sachin and his family had to spend the night in a park to avoid any aftershocks. "The condition here is quite pathetic. No food, no electricity and no water. Since all the hospitals are overcrowded and running out of beds, there are many people injured waiting for doctors and medicine. People have survived only on hope of getting things better. The aftershocks after every four hours have left the people in panic," added Sachin.

Nepal, just across the border, is a favourite tourist destination for holidaymakers from Bihar. But this summer, Kathmandu, the beautiful city, may have lowest number of tourists from the state. Many meetings and bookings for Kathmandu and Pokhara have been cancelled by tourists. "Almost 80 per cent of the bookings got cancelled by the residents after the tremor. The earthquake will affect tourism in Nepal this year," said Sushant Singh, who has a travel and tour set-up in Patna.

Engineer Aniket Chaudhary, 34, was supposed to spend a week in Pokhara next month but has cancelled all his reservations.

"I can't take risk - the earthquake has shaken me. The intensity in Nepal was really high. For now, I have cancelled my trip to Nepal. If the earthquake is something which cannot be predicted or forecast, then I am not in a mood to take risk along with my family," said Chaudhary.

Sanjay Prasad, a medical representative, has also cancelled his planned trip to the Himalayan country after the quake. "Who wants to take such a risk? Rather, I shall spend the holidays at a beach destination or even at home," said the father of two.