More than 128 persons have been reported killed after a 5.6 magnitude earthquake struck western Nepal on Friday, with officials saying the death toll could rise.
Strong tremors from the earthquake were felt as far as the Nepalese capital and in cities in neighbouring India, including Delhi.
A spokesperson for the army said more than 100 people have been injured, with a hospital in Jajarkot district packed with the wounded.
Local media footage showed crumbled multi-storied brick houses with people trapped beneath the rubble.
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Social media pictures showed people digging through rubble in the dark to pull out survivors from collapsed buildings.
Pushpa Dahal, Nepal’s prime minister, expressed “deep sorrow” at the loss of lives and property in the wake of the quake, while disclosing that he has ordered security agencies to immediately launch rescue and relief operations.
Suresh Sunar, police chief of Jajarkot district, told Reuters that it has been difficult processing the full scale of the disaster.
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“I am out in the open myself. We are collecting details but due to cold and night it is difficult to get information from remote areas,” Sunar said.
The US Geological Survey described the earthquake as “shallow”, meaning it happened closer to the earth’s surface. It is the country’s deadliest since 2015.
Nepal lies within the Himalaya mountain range in Asia, making it prone to tremors and seismic activity.
In October, a 6.3-magnitude earthquake was registered in the western district of Bajhang, resulting in injuries.
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In 2015, the country bore the brunt of two earthquakes which left 9,000 dead and injured 22,309.
Nepal’s National Seismological Centre put the magnitude of the latest earthquake at 6.4, while the German Research Centre for Geosciences measured the quake at 5.7, downgrading it from 6.2.
The US Geological Survey however pegged it at 5.6.
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