Office of the Prime Minister of Nepal/AP
This handout photo provided by the Nepalese Prime Minister’s Office shows an earthquake-affected area in northwestern Nepal, Saturday, November 4, 2023.
Kathmandu CNN —
At least 157 people were killed in an earthquake that struck a remote part of northwestern Nepal overnight on Friday, causing several buildings to collapse. Officials warned the death toll could rise, according to a police official.
According to the United States Geological Survey (USGS), the quake had a magnitude of 5.6 and occurred about 42 kilometers (about 26 miles) from Jumla, Nepal, in Karnali province. It occurred at a comparatively shallow depth of 18 kilometers and the tremors were felt as far away as the capital of India, New Delhi.
“We are currently only focusing on search and rescue operations,” Nepal Police spokesman Kuber Kadayat told CNN on Saturday. “Therefore, we do not yet have an accurate estimate of the collapsed and damaged houses and other infrastructure. There are some villages where an estimated 90% of the houses have collapsed.”
Kadayat said 157 people have been killed and 170 injured so far, making Friday’s tremor the deadliest since 2015.
In Jajarkot district, near the quake’s epicenter, 105 people were confirmed dead and another 55 injured. In the nearby Rukum West district, 52 people were killed and 85 injured, Kadayat said.
Portal footage showed several houses in Jajarkot reduced to shattered piles of bricks and wood.
Nepal Army/Handout/Portal
Army personnel carry an injured person on a stretcher after an earthquake in Jajarkot, Nepal, Nov. 4, 2023.
Earthquakes are common in Nepal, where the Indian and Eurasian tectonic plates meet to form the massive Himalayan mountains.
At least 9,000 people died in 2015 when a magnitude 7.8 earthquake damaged around a million homes and buildings across much of the country, causing $6 billion in damages.
Officials told Portal they feared there would be more casualties in Friday’s quake because they had failed to make contact in the hilly area near the epicenter, about 500 kilometers (300 miles) west of the capital Kathmandu, where earthquakes were also felt.
“The number of injured could be in the hundreds and the number of deaths could also rise,” Jajarkot district official Harish Chandra Sharma told Portal by telephone.
“Many houses collapsed, many others developed cracks. “Thousands of residents spent the entire night in cold, open areas because they were too afraid to go into the cracked houses as aftershocks struck,” Sharma added.
Jajarkot district has a population of 190,000 and the villages are scattered in remote hills. Images published by the AFP news agency showed survivors gathering at Jajarkot’s main hospital.
Nepal Prime Minister’s Office/Handout/Portal
A damaged building is seen after an earthquake in Jajarkot, Nepal, November 4, 2023
India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed his condolences to the families of those killed in the earthquake.
“Deeply saddened by the loss of life and damage caused by the earthquake in Nepal,” Modi wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter. “India stands in solidarity with the people of Nepal and is ready to provide all possible assistance. Our thoughts are with the bereaved and we wish those injured a speedy recovery.”
This is a developing story and will be updated