A strong earthquake hits northwestern Nepal : NPR

KATHMANDU, Nepal — Helicopters and floor troops rushed to assist folks harm in a powerful earthquake that shook northwestern Nepal districts simply earlier than midnight Friday, killing not less than 128 folks and injuring dozens extra, officers mentioned Saturday.

Authorities mentioned the dying toll was anticipated to rise, noting that communications had been reduce off with many locations.

As day broke, rescue helicopters flew into the area to assist out and safety forces on the bottom had been digging out the injured and useless from the rubble, Nepal police spokesman Kuber Kadayat mentioned.

Troops had been clearing roads and mountain trails that had been blocked by landslides triggered by the earthquake. Helicopters flew in medical employees and medicines to the hospitals there.

Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal additionally flew in on a helicopter with a workforce of docs. Dahal led an armed communist revolt in 1996-2006 that started from the districts that had been hit by the quake.

In Jajarkot district, the place the quake’s epicenter was, 92 folks had been confirmed useless and 55 others injured. Kadayat mentioned.

The quake killed not less than 36 folks in neighboring Rukum district, the place quite a few homes collapsed, and not less than 85 injured folks had been taken to the native hospital, he mentioned.

On the regional hospital within the metropolis of Nepalgunj, greater than 100 hospital beds had been made obtainable and groups of docs stood by to assist the injured.

“I used to be quick asleep when impulsively it began shaking violently. I attempted to run however the entire home collapsed. I attempted escaping however half my physique obtained buried within the particles,” mentioned Bimal Kumar Karki, one of many first two folks to be delivered to the regional hospital.

“I screamed, however each considered one of my neighbors had been in the identical state of affairs and screaming for assist. It took practically a half hour to an hour earlier than rescuers discovered me,” he mentioned.

Safety officers labored with villagers all via the night time within the darkness to tug the useless and injured from fallen homes.

The quake, which hit when many individuals already had been asleep of their properties, was felt in India’s capital, New Delhi, greater than 800 kilometers (500 miles) away.

The U.S. Geological Survey mentioned the earthquake had a preliminary magnitude of 5.6 and occurred at a depth of 11 miles. Nepal’s Nationwide Earthquake Monitoring & Analysis Middle mentioned its epicenter was at Jajarkot, which is about 250 miles northeast of the Nepalese capital, Kathmandu.

Earthquakes are widespread in mountainous Nepal. A 7.8 magnitude earthquake in 2015 killed some 9,000 folks and broken about 1 million buildings.

Neighboring India provided to assist in the rescue efforts.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi shared on social media that he was deeply saddened by the lack of lives and injury as a result of earthquake in Nepal.

“India stands in solidarity with the folks of Nepal and is able to prolong all potential help,” he mentioned.