At least 128 people were killed in a strong earthquake that originated in the country's Jajarkot district Friday midnight. Eighty people were killed and more than 140 people sustained injuries in Jajarkot and Rukum districts of Western Nepal, according to state-run Nepal Television.
Nepal's National Seismological Centre said the quake was a magnitude 6.4 but the German Research Centre for Geosciences (GFZ) later downgraded the magnitude to 5.7 and the US Geological Survey pegged it as a magnitude 5.6.
Local officials said it had not been possible to establish contact in the area near the epicenter in Jajarkot, a hilly district with a population of 190,000 and villages scattered in remote hills.
Jajarkot local official Harish Chandra Sharma said at least 34 people had been killed in his district while in neighbouring Rukum West district, police official Namaraj Bhattarai said at least 35 deaths had been reported.
"Rescue and search teams have to clear roads blocked by dry landslides due to the earthquake to reach the affected areas," Bhattarai said.
Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal expressed deep sorrow at the loss of life and property in the quake and ordered security agencies to launch immediate rescue and relief operations, in a post on social media X, formerly known as Twitter.
At least 20 people were rushed to hospital with injuries, Jajarkot district official Suresh Sunar told Reuters by phone.
