Security personnel raced to aid in rescue attempts after an earthquake rocked a rural area of Nepal during the night, killing at least 132 people, according to officials on Saturday.
The US Geological Survey estimated that the late Friday, 5.6-magnitude earthquake was only 18 kilometers (11 miles) deep when it struck the remote western region of the Himalayan nation.
Social media users shared images and videos of residents searching through debris at night to extract survivors from the devastation of collapsed homes and structures.
Emergency vehicle sirens wailed as survivors huddled outside for safety while mud houses were crushed or damaged.
Located 42 km south of Jumla and approximately 500 kilometers from the epicenter, the earthquake was felt as far out as New Delhi, the capital of India.
The two districts most severely affected by the earthquake are Jajarkot and Rukum. “Ninety-two people died in Jajarkot and 40 in Rukum,” Home Ministry spokesperson Narayan Prasad Bhattarai told AFP.
According to Kuber Kathayat, a spokeswoman for the national police, more than 100 additional people have been hurt in both areas.
According to Gopal Chandra Bhattarai, a spokesman for the Karnali Province police, security troops have been sent in to support search and rescue efforts.
“The remoteness of the districts makes it difficult for information to get through,” he stated.
“Some roads had been blocked by damage, but we are trying to reach the area through alternate routes.”
There was a constant stream of locals bringing injured people to the district hospital.
“Physical and human damages”
Pushpa Kamal Dahal, the prime minister of Nepal, expressed “his deep sorrow over the human and physical damage caused by the earthquake” before traveling to the epicenter of the tremor on Saturday.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi of neighboring India expressed his “deep sadness” over the deaths.
“India stands in solidarity with the people of Nepal and is ready to extend all possible assistance,” he stated.
Earthquakes frequently occur in Nepal because the country is situated on a major geological faultline where the Indian tectonic plate pushes up into the Eurasian plate, generating the Himalayas.
When a 7.8-magnitude earthquake rocked Nepal in 2015, more than 9,000 people perished and over 22,000 were injured, damaging over half a million homes.
It destroyed or damaged approximately 8,000 schools, depriving nearly a million students of a classroom.
A serious setback to tourism occurred when hundreds of monuments and royal palaces, including those listed as UNESCO World Heritage sites in the Kathmandu Valley, were destroyed.
November of last year saw a 5.6-magnitude earthquake near Jajarkot’s Doti area, which claimed six lives.
Indians on social media claimed to have felt Friday’s earthquake in Patna and Lucknow, two northern cities.
An aftershock with a magnitude of 4.0 occurred in the same area several hours later, according to the USGS.
