At least 143 people died in an earthquake that shook a remote region of Nepal, where relief efforts are being organized to search for survivors, according to a new report on Saturday from the Nepalese authorities. The 5.6 magnitude earthquake was measured at a depth of 18 km according to the American Geological Survey USGS. It hit the far western Himalayan country late Friday evening. Its epicenter was located 42 km south of Jumla, not far from the border with Tibet.
“92 people died in Jajarkot and 40 in Rukum,” Interior Ministry spokesperson Narayan Prasad Bhattarai told AFP, citing the two districts at this stage most affected by the earthquake, located in south of the epicenter in the border province of Karnali.
“Transmission of information” made difficult
More than a hundred injured were reported in these two districts, said Nepalese police spokesperson Kuber Kathayat. Nepali security forces have been deployed to earthquake-hit areas to assist in relief operations, according to Karnali provincial police spokesperson Gopal Chandra Bhattarai.
“The isolation of the districts makes it difficult to transmit information,” he added. “Some roads are blocked because of the damage, but we are trying to reach the area by other routes.” In Jajarkot, the area hospital was stormed by residents transporting injured people there. Videos and photos posted on social media show residents digging through rubble in the dark to extract survivors from collapsed buildings.
We see destroyed or damaged mud houses and survivors outside to protect themselves from possible further collapses, while the sirens of emergency vehicles wail. Nepalese Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal arrived in the affected area on Saturday after expressing “deep sadness over the human and physical damage caused by the earthquake.” “The government is determined to help the victims and treat the injured,” he said.
Tremors felt as far away as New Delhi
Moderate tremors were felt as far away as New Delhi, the capital of India located nearly 500 km from the epicenter. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said he was “deeply saddened” by the loss of life in Nepal. “India stands in solidarity with the people of Nepal and is ready to provide them with all possible assistance,” he added. Earthquakes are common in Nepal, which lies on a major geological fault where the Indian tectonic plate pushes into the Eurasian plate, forming the Himalayan range.
The tremor was followed several hours later by aftershocks of magnitude 4 in the same area, according to the USGS. Nearly 9,000 people died in 2015 when a 7.8 magnitude earthquake struck Nepal, destroying more than half a million homes and 8,000 schools. Hundreds of monuments and royal palaces – including sites in the Kathmandu Valley, a UNESCO World Heritage Site and attracting tourists from all over the world – had suffered irreversible damage, affecting Nepalese tourism.
In November 2022, a 5.6 magnitude earthquake killed six people in the Doti district, near Jajarkot struck on Friday evening.