At least 157 people were killed and over 160 others injured when a powerful 6.4 magnitude earthquake, the worst since 2015, struck Nepal and destroyed hundreds of houses in the Himalayan nation’s remote mountainous region, officials said on Saturday.
According to the National Earthquake Monitoring and Research Centre, the earthquake with an epicentre in Jajarkot district, about 500km west of Kathmandu, was recorded at 11:47 pm on Friday.
Moreover, Nepal experienced yet another tremor, registering a magnitude of 3.6, during the early hours of Sunday.The earthquake struck at 04:38:20 (IST), reaching a depth of 10 kilometres, and its epicentre was located 169 kilometres northwest of Kathmandu.
Friday’s earthquake is the most devastating one in Nepal since the 2015 earthquake that killed around 9,000 people and injured more than 22,000 others. The impact of the quake was felt in Kathmandu and surrounding districts, and even in New Delhi in neighbouring India.
The Nepal Army has mobilised its personnel to carry out rescue work in the quake-hit areas, according to Nepal Army spokesperson Krishna Prasad Bhandari. Rescue workers on Saturday dug through the rubble of collapsed houses to find survivors.
The Jajarkot and Rukum districts of western Nepal were worst hit by the quake. As many as 157 people were killed so far in the quake, Home Ministry officials said. While 105 people were killed in Jajarkot, 52 died in Rukum West, they said, adding that 166 people were injured in Jajarkot, Rukum West, Dailekh and Jumla districts.
Deputy Mayor Sarita Singh of Nalgadh Municipality in Jajarkot was among those killed in the quake, officials said. The death toll is expected to rise, they said. The Nepal government has announced Rs 50 million each for Jajarkot and Rukum districts as immediate relief.
Additionally, the Home Ministry decided to allocate Rs 5.5 million to the disaster relief funds of both the Jajarkot and Rukum West districts, aiming to support the rescue and relief operations for the affected individuals.
India has also offered to extend all possible assistance to Nepal. In a post on X, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said he is deeply saddened by the loss of lives and damage due to the earthquake in Nepal. “India stands in solidarity with the people of Nepal and is ready to extend all possible assistance,” he said.
Meanwhile, an earthquake with a magnitude of 3.6 struck 215 km north of Ayodhya, Uttar Pradesh, at 1 a.m. on Sunday, according to the National Centre for Seismology (NCS). The earthquake had a depth of 10 km and its epicentre was located at a latitude of 28.73 and a longitude of 82.26. The NCS provided the following details: “Earthquake of Magnitude: 3.6, Occurred on 05-11-2023, 01:07:22 IST, Lat: 28.73 & Long: 82.26, Depth: 10 Km, Location: 215 km N of Ayodhya, Uttar Pradesh.”
