Light illuminates a street between the cluster of residential buildings in Kathmandu, Nepal, November 8, 2022. Portal/Navesh Chitrakar/File Photo Acquire License Rights
KATHMANDU, Nov 4 (Portal) – At least 69 people were killed and dozens injured in Nepal on Friday when a powerful earthquake struck the western Jajarkot area. Witnesses said houses in the area collapsed and buildings shook as far away as New Delhi, India.
Nepal’s National Seismological Center said the quake had a magnitude of 6.4, but the German Research Center for Geosciences (GFZ) later downgraded the magnitude to 5.7 and the US Geological Survey put the magnitude at 5.6.
Local officials said it had not been possible to establish contact in the area around the epicenter in Jajarkot, a hilly district of 190,000 people with villages scattered in remote hills.
Jajarkot local official Harish Chandra Sharma said at least 34 people were killed in his district, while in neighboring Rukum West district at least 35 deaths were reported, according to police officer Namaraj Bhattarai.
“Rescue and search teams have to clear roads blocked by dry landslides due to the earthquake to reach affected areas,” Bhattarai said.
Authorities have not yet reached Ramidanda, where the epicenter is.
Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal, in a post on Social Media
At least 20 people were hospitalized with injuries, Jajarkot district official Suresh Sunar told Portal by phone.
“I am outdoors myself. We are gathering details but due to the cold and night it is difficult to get information from remote areas,” he told Portal.
Nepal’s National Seismological Center said the quake struck at 11:47 p.m. (1802 GMT) in Jajarkot district of Karnali province. Jajarkot is about 500 km (310 miles) west of the capital Kathmandu.
Local media footage showed crumbling facades of multi-story brick houses with large pieces of furniture scattered across them.
Tremors were felt in neighboring districts and even in Kathmandu, residents said.
“Houses collapsed. People streamed out of their houses. I find myself in the crowd of frightened residents. We are trying to find out details of the damage,” police officer Santosh Rokka told Portal by phone.
According to Portal witnesses, the earthquake shook buildings as far away as New Delhi, about 600 km (375 miles) away. Videos on the social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter, showed people running into the streets as some buildings were evacuated.
In 2015, two earthquakes in Nepal killed around 9,000 people. Entire cities, centuries-old temples and other historic sites were reduced to rubble and more than a million homes were destroyed, costing the economy $6 billion.
Reporting by Aditya Kalra, Gopal Sharma, Shivam Patel, Gnaneshwar Rajan and Jahnavi Nidumolu; Editing by Chris Reese, Jonathan Oatis, Cynthia Osterman, David Gregorio and Sandra Maler
Our standards: The Thomson Portal Trust Principles.
Acquire license rights, opens new tab