Nov. 4, Kathmandu – A powerful earthquake that struck the western region of Jajarkot on Friday left at least 69 people dead and scores injured in Nepal. According to witnesses, buildings as far away as New Delhi, India, shook and houses in the area collapsed.
The earthquake’s magnitude was initially reported as 6.4 by Nepal’s National Seismological Centre, but later revised down to 5.7 by the German Research Centre for Geosciences (GFZ) and 5.6 by the U.S. Geological Survey.
Local authorities reported that contact had not been made in the vicinity of the epicentre in Jajarkot, a hilly district with 190,000 people living in isolated villages amidst the hills.
“Rescue and search teams have to clear roads blocked by dry landslides due to the earthquake to reach the affected areas,” Bhattarai said.
The epicentre is in Ramidanda, which has not yet been reached by authorities.
In a post on social media X, formerly known as Twitter, Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal expressed his profound sorrow over the deaths and property damage caused by the earthquake and gave the order for security agencies to begin rescue and relief efforts right away.
“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,” he told.
The earthquake struck the Karnali province’s Jajarkot district at 11:47 p.m. (1802 GMT), according to Nepal’s National Seismological Centre. About 500 kilometres (310 miles) to the west of Nepal’s capital is Jajarkot.
Large pieces of furniture were strewn across the crumbling facades of multi-story brick houses in the footage from the local media.
Residents reported feeling tremors as far away as Kathmandu and in nearby districts.