More than sixty people were killed in an earthquake that shook a remote region of western Nepal, local officials reported Saturday morning. 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 district, not far from the border with Tibet.
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Videos and photos posted on social media show residents digging through rubble in the dark to extract survivors from collapsed buildings. It shows destroyed or damaged mud houses and survivors outside to protect themselves from possible further collapses, while emergency vehicle sirens blare. 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. Moderate tremors were felt as far away as New Delhi, the capital of India located nearly 500 km from the epicenter.
In Nepal, the districts of Jajarkot and Rukum West, south of the epicenter, have so far been the most affected in the border province of Karnali. In Jajarkot, “ 26 people died and many were injured », Declared to AFP Suresh Sunar, head of the district, who fears that the toll will be heavier. “ It’s still dark and it’s very difficult to get all the information “, he added, “ the toll could increase “. The area hospital was stormed by residents transporting injured people there. In the neighboring district of Rukum West, at least 36 people died and 85 injured, local police chief Namraj Bhattarai told AFP.
The Kathmandu government deployed security forces to assist in the relief efforts. “ We have information indicating human and material damage in two districts due to the earthquake ” Or ” security forces were mobilized for relief operations said Nararyan Prasad Bhattarai, spokesperson for the Interior Ministry. Nepalese Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal expressed “ his deep sadness for the human and physical damage caused by the earthquake “.
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