The death toll from a strong earthquake that hit western Nepal on Friday night has risen to 157, Nepal Police said on Saturday.
The number of the injured has increased to 184, Nepal Police said in a statement.
The 6.4-magnitude quake hit Jajarkot and Rukum West districts at 23:47 local time on Friday night, with a depth of 10-15 km, according to the authorities.
The U.S. Geological Survey said the earthquake had a preliminary magnitude of 5.6 and occurred at a depth of 11 miles (18 kilometres). Nepal’s National Earthquake Monitoring & Research Center said its epicentre was in Jajarkot, which is about 400 kilometres (250 miles) northeast of the capital, Kathmandu.
Nepal Police, Nepal Armed Police Force and Nepali Army participated in the rescue operation, as the government has prioritized the rescue and treatment of the injured.
Nepal’s provincial governments have announced relief packages for the quake-hit areas, while the Nepali Congress and the Rastriya Swatantra Party offered 5 million Nepali rupees (37,800 U.S. dollars) and two teams of doctors in aid, respectively.
It took time for the rescue teams to reach some villages on foot as roads were blocked, said Harischandra Sharma, Jajarkot’s assistant chief district officer.
“The district is overwhelmed with the injured,” he told reporters. “The infrastructure and human resources are not enough to deal with such a huge number of injured.”
Nepal’s Deputy Prime Minister and Home Minister Narayan Kaji Shrestha told the media that China and India had offered support in relief and rescue.
Earthquakes are common in mountainous Nepal. A 7.8 magnitude earthquake in 2015 killed some 9,000 people and damaged about 1 million structures.
