Nepal earthquake kills at least 1 in remote area, tremors felt in Delhi over 1,000 miles away
- Magnitude 5.6 quake struck Himalayan nation on Tuesday afternoon, officials said, with tremors felt as far away as India’s capital
- ‘It was quite a big tremor … there were people gathered on the street … there was terror for some time’; a 7.8 magnitude quake killed almost 9,000 people in Nepal in 2015
At least one person died and two were injured after an earthquake struck western Nepal on Tuesday, an official said.
More than two dozen houses were damaged in a remote district after a magnitude 5.6 quake hit the Himalayan nation, the authorities said, with tremors felt in India’s capital New Delhi, more than 1,100 miles away.
Military and police teams have been rushed to the affected area in Bajura district in the country’s west, an official told Reuters, as local media showed images of volunteers moving debris to look for survivors.
A woman who had climbed up a hill to collect fodder was crushed to death by a falling stone loosened by the tremors, Gaumul village official Deb Bahadur Rokaya said.
The earthquake struck in the afternoon, sending people fleeing from their homes, according to the chief district officer, Puskar Khadka.
He said details were still sketchy because many of the villages are accessible by foot. The earthquake also buried cattle and farm animals.
“The remoteness of our area makes it difficult to get full information. We hope to assess all damages and casualties by tomorrow,” Khadka said.
The US Geological Survey said the quake was at a depth of 25km, about 63km to the northwest of Nepal’s Jumla district, more than 300km from the capital Kathmandu.
“It was quite a big tremor. There were people all gathered on the streets. There was terror for some time,” said Nain Rawal, an official in Bajura district.
The homes that were destroyed or developed cracks in villages were mostly made of mud and stone, said Khadka, adding that further details from rescue teams are awaited.
The European-Mediterranean Seismological Centre said earlier that the magnitude of the quake was 5.4. Some reports said the magnitude was 5.9.
The earthquake could be felt in cities and towns across the border in India, according to news reports. Social media users there said they felt strong tremors that shook ceiling fans and other fixtures.
01:04
6.6-magnitude earthquake in Nepal kills at least 6, tremors felt in New Delhi
Additional reporting by Associated Press, Agence France-Presse
