At least 128 people have died while dozens were injured after a strong earthquake struck the Western area of Jajarkot in Nepal.
Nepal Officials said houses in the area collapsed and buildings as far away as New Delhi in neighboring India shook.
The magnitude 6.4 quake struck early Saturday, according to Nepal’s National Seismological Centre.
The quake was measured at 5.7 by the German Research Centre for Geosciences, down from 6.2 by the US Geological Survey.
The quake is the deadliest since 2015, when two earthquakes in the Himalayan country killed approximately 9,000 people. The destruction of entire towns, centuries-old temples, and other historic sites, as well as more than a million houses, cost the economy $6 billion.
Officials feared the death toll could rise as they had not been able to establish contact in the hilly area near the epicenter, some 500 km (300 miles) West of the Capital Kathmandu, where tremors were also felt.
The district has a population of 190,000 with villages scattered in remote hills.
Police Spokesman Kuber Kadayat said at least 92 people were killed in Jajarkot and 36 in neighbouring Rukum West district, both in Karnali province. The epicenter was in the village of Ramidanda.
At least 85 people were injured in Rukum West and 55 in Jajarkot, an official in the Prime Minister’s Office said, while Sharma said at least 50 people were in hospitals in Jajarkot alone.
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