Nepal: Jajarkot earthquake leaves at least 69 dead

Earthquake has that Northwestern Nepal shook It cost many people their lives. Officials reported at least 128 people killed on Saturday morning (local time). It is feared that the number of deaths will rise. Dozens of people were also injured. Emergency services searched for victims in mountain villages. It was said that telephone communications were cut off from many places in the disaster area.

6.4 magnitude earthquake

According to the National Earthquake and Research Center, the 6.4-magnitude earthquake occurred late Friday evening and was centered in Jajarkot, about 400 kilometers northeast of the capital, Kathmandu. The USGS had previously measured the earthquake’s magnitude at 5.6. Accordingly, the earthquake occurred at a depth of 17.9 km.

Many people were surprised by the earthquake while they were sleeping in their homes, and the tremors were also felt by residents of the Indian capital, New Delhi, which is more than 800 kilometers away.

Police spokesman Narvaraj Bhattarai said by phone that at least 35 people were killed in the earthquake that occurred in Nepal’s Rukum district. Many houses there collapsed. 30 wounded were transferred to a local hospital.

Difficulty reaching some places

Police spokesman Kuber Kadiat said that at least 92 deaths had been confirmed in Nepal’s Jajarkot district. At least 55 people were injured. At dawn, rescue helicopters flew to the area to carry out relief operations. Earlier, Administrative Officer Harish Chandra Sharma said that security forces and villagers were trying to recover bodies and injured people from collapsed houses in the dark. But it is difficult to reach some places because some access roads are closed due to landslides caused by the earthquake. There are also aftershocks. In the morning, additional forces were busy clearing mountain passes and roads blocked by landslides.

At least 36 people have been reported killed by the quake so far in neighboring Rukum district. It was said that many houses collapsed there. At least 85 wounded were transported to a local hospital.

Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal was also flown to the disaster area by helicopter to get an idea of ​​the situation. He arrived with a team of medical professionals.

The Himalayan region, in which Nepal is located, is geologically very active. There, the Indian continental plate is thrusting beneath the Eurasian plate at a rate of about two centimeters per year, frequently causing powerful earthquakes. A 7.8-magnitude earthquake killed about 9,000 people in 2015. About a million buildings were damaged at that time.

(EPA/AFP/System)