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A major search operation resumed Thursday for a US military helicopter that disappeared with eight people on board while delivering aid to earthquake victims in Nepal, where a second major tremor has killed dozens and brought fresh misery, AFP reports.

For a third straight day, US and Nepalese military helicopters and hundreds of ground troops scoured the remote mountainous area of eastern Nepal where the chopper went missing, underscoring the huge challenge of operating in the Himalayan country.

The search operation has diverted resources urgently needed to help victims of the 7.3-magnitude quake that hit on Tuesday, triggering major landslides and bringing down buildings weakened in the first disaster on April 25.

That quake killed more than 8,000 people and destroyed nearly 300,000 homes across the impoverished country.

"We began searching early today with two army helicopters. About 400 troops have been deployed for this," Rajan Dahal of the Nepal Army told AFP by telephone from eastern Dolakha district where the chopper is thought to have disappeared.